Long Time Gone
by FoxyWombat
Summary: What if Mac married Mic after they knew Harm was okay and she eventually moved to Australia with him? What if she came back? HM shipper...Please R&R!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own them…I'm borrowing them for my own amusement!

A/N: I've been messing around with my idea for a while now…let me know what you think of it…please!

* * *

**Prologue:**

"Hey," Harm opened the door of his apartment surprised to find Mac in the hallway. Actually it wasn't Mac, she hadn't been Mac for the last five months; she was Sarah Brumby.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," he stepped aside and she walked in, "What's going on?"

"I'm going to Australia," she said abruptly.

"Now?" he watched her walk toward his kitchen area.

"In a few hours," she perched herself on the edge of one of the stools.

"Why?"

"Mic's mother is doing worse."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he knew that Mic had been in Australia for the past couple weeks, but he didn't realize how serious it was.

"Thanks," she played with her wedding ring, "I need to go be with him."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes."

"Will you be back?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" he looked at her in surprise, "Are you giving up on the Marines?"

"No!" she shot back defensively.

"If you stay in Australia…"

"Then I resign my commission," she broke in angrily, "It's changing my priorities, not giving up."

"Then ends are the same."

"Well, it's my decision," Mac looked down at her hands as she folded them in her lap.

"Is it?"

"What?" her head snapped up.

"Is it your decision or Mic's?"

"Both! We make our decisions together, and I resent your implication that we do not," she stood up, "I came here to tell you in person because you're my friend and I felt you deserved to hear it from me instead of the admiral, but maybe I was wrong."

"Mac, wait," he grabbed her arm, "I'm sorry."

"I know," she answered softly, "But I still have to go."

"When did it change?"

"What change?"

"Our friendship."

"It didn't, we did."

"No, you did," he corrected, "You got married."

"Eternity was too much for me."

"It wouldn't have been that."

"Right," she kissed him softly on his cheek, "Goodbye, Harm."

"Goodbye."

That was the last time Harm saw Mac. After Mic's mother died, she went into inactive duty and had what she needed from her apartment shipped to Australia. She e-mailed him often at first with stories of her new house on the beach and her new job as council for a hospital. When Bud stepped on the landmine there were actually phone calls, but other than that she just seemed to fade away from her old life in D.C. And one day, the e-mails just stopped coming.

* * *


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own them…I'm borrowing them for my own amusement!

A/N: This picks up in Spring of 2004, which I'm roughly translating to about mid-season nine. Basically all of the major events have happened just as they did on the show, minus Mac. Harm still becomes Mattie's guardian, but they obviously didn't meet because he went UA to look for Mac in Paraguay. Do me a favor and just accept that the Harm/Mattie/Jen arrangement has been set up. Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

"So these kids you're babysitting," Harm began, he was driving Mattie to a babysitting job over her spring break, "How old are they?"

"The little boy, Nat, is almost 3, and the little girl, Talia, is 1," she answered.

"And you can handle both of them?"

"I handled them fine the last four days," she laughed, "Beside, Nat is quite the little gentleman, and his accent is adorable."

"Accent?"

"Australian," she paused to point out the next street he needed to take, "Their mom just moved them here from Sydney a couple weeks ago."

"What does the mom do?"

"She's working as co-council for the legal department of some hospital."

"No dad?"

"I think they're in the process of divorcing. Sarah's never really told me about it."

"Well, it's not really any of my business. I was just curious," he turned onto a residential street, "Which one is theirs?"

"The third on the right," she checked to make sure her bag had everything, "Will you or Jen be picking me up?"

"I will," he pulled into the driveway of the small two-bedroom house, "She has to stay late to finish up some stuff for the JAG picnic tomorrow."

"Okay," she opened her door, "I'll see you at 5:30 then."

"Bye Mattie."

"Bye Harm," she got of the car and waved to him as he drove off to work. She walked up to the porch and knocked on the screen door.

"Come on in, it's open," Sarah called from the kitchen were she was feeding Talia, "Hey Mattie."

"Good morning," she walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Mattie," Nat looked up from his bowl of Cheerios with a grin.

"G'day mate," Mattie smiled back, making him giggle. She noticed Sarah's still wet hair, "I can finish feeding Talia if you need to get ready."

"Thanks, I only have 6 minutes and I'm obviously not ready," she handed Mattie the spoon without actually checking her watch to confirm the time.

"No problem," Mattie sat down and took over the food duties, "So, Nat, what do you have planned for today?"

"Mum rented the new Thomas movie for us to watch," he answered, referring to _Thomas the Tank Engine_, his favorite series.

"That's going to be fun," she smiled, "Now finish eating."

"Yup."

"Thanks again for helping me out Mattie," Sarah returned with her hair swept up, but still damp, "I know you'd rather spend your spring break relaxing."

"I have fun here and I could use the money," she assured her, "I'm glad Mrs. Abrams gave you my number."

"So am I," she organized her briefcase, "The kids love you."

"They're good kids."

"They're going to start daycare at the hospital with me next week when you go back to school, but I hope you wouldn't mind if I called you weekends sometimes."

"That'd be great."

"Okay, I've got to run. Bye Tali-babe," she bent down to kiss her daughter, "Come say goodbye Mr. Nat."

"Bye Mummy," he ran over to hug her.

"Be good for Mattie," she kissed the top of his head.

"I will," he promised.

"Bye Mattie," she headed out the door, "Thanks again."

* * *

"Hey Mattie," Sarah unlocked to door a half hour early, "I'm home."

"Mummy," Nat jumped up from where he had been watching TV, "We're watching Thomas!"

"I can see that," Sarah hugged him and he ran back to his seat on the floor.

"Talia's napping," Mattie told her from her seat on the couch where she sat with the baby monitor, "You're home early."

"Yeah, sorry about surprising you," she joined her on the couch, "I was able to get out early."

"No problem," Mattie smiled.

"Do you want to call your dad to pick you up?"

"He's working and he's not my dad."

"Sorry," Sarah said quickly, "I just assumed."

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged, "He's my guardian. My real dad's in rehab."

"Alcoholic?" she guessed.

"Yeah," Mattie's pretty features darkened.

"So was my father. It's good that you have someone in your corner."

"I couldn't ask for a better advocate," she smiled.

"It baffles me how some parents don't realize what they're doing to their kids," her eyes fell on Nat who as happily engrossed in the movie and her mind wandered to the reasons behind her bringing the kids to D.C. Snapping back to reality, Sarah changed the subject, "I have another request for you Mattie."

"What?"

"Would you be able to watch the kids tomorrow for a couple of hours?"

"What time?"

"10 to 1?" Sarah asked hopefully.

"I have this picnic to go to at noon in the park, but I could bring them with me."

"I don't want to make you do that."

"It's just a thing thrown by my guardian's office, and there'll be a bunch of little kids there," Mattie told her, "It really would not be an issue."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she assured her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Okay," Sarah stood up, "I need to start dinner."

"You want help?"

"Not unless you have an undying urge to chop vegetables."

"If it's that or Thomas, I'll choose chopping," she laughed.

"True," Sarah laughed too, "You're lucky he's not watching B-A-R-N-E-Y. That's his real favorite."

"I've never seen him watch it."

"That's because I told him that they only have him in Australia," she opened the fridge and started getting out what she needed for dinner.

"You're evil," Mattie laughed.

"No, it's that stupid dinosaur that's evil."

* * *


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own them…I'm just borrowing them for kicks…

A/N: Yay! There appears to be some interest in this so I'm going to keep it up. Happy reading and please review!

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

"Coming!" Mattie shouted when the doorbell of Sarah's house rang the next day. She set down the bottle of sun block she had been using to cover Talia's fair skin and raced to the door to find Harm waiting, "Hey Harm."

"You got everything under control?" Harm walked in and saw the partially sun blocked little girl giggling in her high chair.

"More or less," she led him into the kitchen, "This is Talia."

"Hi Talia," Harm made a funny face making her laugh while Mattie finished with the sun block. The little girl was beautiful, with blue eyes and wispy brown hair, and he immediately fell in love with her, "Where's her brother?"

"In the other room getting his football," Mattie answered, "Nat, you almost ready to go?"

"Yeah," he bounded into the room with his black and white ball. He stopped suddenly when he saw Harm, is brown curls stopped bouncing a couple seconds after he stopped moving.

"Nat, this is my friend Harm," Mattie explained, "He's going to take us to the picnic."

"Hi," the little boy smiled sheepishly.

"Hello, Nat," Harm crouched down to his level and stuck out his hand. He was struck by the familiarity of the little boy's face, with those brown eyes of his he reminded him of her, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Do you play football?" Harm looked down at the ball.

"Yeah," he bit his lip sheepishly, "You didn't call it a soccer ball. Mum said that's what it's called here."

"She's right, but Mattie told me you were from Australia, so I wanted to make you feel welcome."

"Okay," he broke into a grin, "Have you ever been to Australia?"

"Once, a long time ago."

"On vacation?"

"Sort of," Harm thought back to that night in Sydney Harbor that could have changed his entire life, "It was work and vacation."

"I don't like work," he made a face.

"Well, luckily you get to spend the day playing," Harm grabbed the ball and spun it on his finger.

"Wrong sport!" Nat giggled.

"Are you boys ready?" Mattie asked, with a diaper bag resting on one hip and Talia on the other.

"Yup," Nat said taking the ball back from Harm.

"What do you want me to carry?" Harm asked.

"Car seats," she pointed to the family, "Sarah left them by the couch."

"Got 'em," he picked them up quickly, "Let's go."

* * *

"Hey Commander," Bud greeted Harm as he came over to where he was talking with Bud. 

"Hey Bud, Sturgis," Harm smiled.

"Did you take in more kids?" Sturgis asked, looking over to where Mattie was introducing Nat to little A.J. and Harriet.

"Only temporarily," Harm smirked, "That is Nat and Talia; they're kids Mattie's babysitting."

"Wait, Nat and Talia?" Bud repeated, "Do you think they were named that intentionally?"

"Maybe," he shrugged, "Personally, I think that kind of thing is too 'cute.'"

"I agree," Sturgis chimed in, "It's just over the top in my opinion."

"What's over the top?" the admiral joined them.

"The naming of children, sir," Bud answered.

"Is Harriet pregnant again?" he jumped to the only reason he could think of that would bring his male officers to discuss this topic.

"No, sir," he answered quickly.

"The two kids Mattie is babysitting are named Nat and Talia," Harm explained, "They're what prompted the conversation, sir."

"Are they twins?" he asked.

"No, sir, Nat's almost three and his sister's one."

"As long as they're not twins, it's cute," the admiral told them, "If they were twin's it would be too much."

* * *

"Jen, you did a great job setting all this up," Mattie bounced Talia on her knee while keeping a watchful eye on Nat who was kicking around the soccer ball with little A.J. Even though A.J. was a year and a half older than Nat, the two boys had quickly bonded and were happily playing while little Jimmy watched. 

"Thanks Mattie," Jen smiled, "But I couldn't have done it without Lt. Sims."

"You're too nice, Jen," Harriet laughed, "But you really took on the bulk of this with me being busy with Jimmy."

"How about we agree that you're both great," Tracy Manetti broke in. After Mac had left the JAG office, Tracy joined the staff and fit right in, she wasn't Mac, but she worked.

"Works for me," Jen laughed.

"Me too," Harriet agreed, "So the babysitting has been going well?"

"Very," Mattie smiled down at Talia, "These two are my favorite job yet, they're just too cute."

"This little one's an angel," Harriet tickled her stomach eliciting giggles from the little girl.

"I know, and their mom is great too. She's not one of those neurotic overprotective moms who bombard me with lists."

"In other words, she's not a new mother," Harriet laughed, "You should have seen me right after little A.J. was born."

"Were you bad?" Tracy asked.

"Yeah, but so was Bud," she remembered, "Now that we have Jimmy though, we're happy to leave them with our babysitter."

"That's what I feel like every time Mattie leaves and I get the apartment to myself," Jen teased.

"Oh, that's low," Mattie warned, "You're lucky because I've got Talia in my lap, but I'll have my revenge."

"You might want to sleep with your door locked tonight," Harriet laughed.

* * *

Sarah easily made her way over to the park where Mattie said the picnic was. Even after the four years she spent in Australia, driving in D.C. and its suburbs was still second nature to her. She parked the car, looked over to the picnic site, and froze when she read the sign. In big bold letters, the banner read: "JAG Spring Picnic." It had to be some cosmic joke. Sarah had known that coming back to the D.C. area would increase her odds of running into someone from her past, but there were over 500,000 people there and she loved the city. What were the odds that her babysitter would have ties to JAG? 

She wanted to get back in her car and drive away. The last thing she wanted to do was explain why she stopped sending e-mails, why she was back in the states, and why she left Mic. Unfortunately, going over to the picnic was the only way to get her kids, so she hesitantly made her way over there. Maybe he wouldn't be there, she told herself, but she knew that was ridiculous. Of course he was there, and with her luck he was probably Mattie's guardian, although she could not imagine Harm with a teenager.

As she got closer, she felt people's eyes on her. Sarah hoped they wouldn't recognize her immediately. She was out of uniform, her hair now brushed past her shoulders, and she was wearing sunglasses. Spotting Mattie talking to an Asian woman and a younger brunette, she made a beeline for her babysitter.

"Hey Mattie," she greeted quickly, praying no one would make the connection.

"Hi Sarah," Mattie smiled and suddenly everyone's eyes were on them.

"Ma'am?" Harriet and Bud questioned.

"Colonel?" A.J. said next.

"Mac?" Harm said finally.

"Mummy!" Nat sped into her arms and she picked him up quickly, grateful for the distraction.

"Surprise," she pulled off her sunglasses and smiled warily over her son's curly head.

* * *

A/N: So...what'd ya thing...please let me know...good or bad...

Dansingwolf…that was the idea that sparked this entire thing…obviously it was a situation that was bound to explode…

Abigaile…of course things just couldn't stay simple…

Cmdrchasenovack…yup, they're one in the same…

Johnny Q…I know Bugme's – well – himself…but she did marry him in this universe so the idea of kids isn't so crazy…try not to think about it…

S…I hope you like it…


	4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing and this is all in good fun

A/N: Wow! I'm glad so many people like this story. As anyone who's read my _Field of Paper Flowers_, you have to know that me updating so quickly is quite irregular, so keep your fingers crossed that I remain good. There may be a slight delay before the next chapter because of work, but I'm working on it.

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

There was silence. It was a beautiful spring day in the park and there was complete silence. Even Jimmy and Talia stopped giggling in the playpen to watch the adults. The faces of the adults were either ones of pure shock or utter confusion, except for Mac's, which looked like she wanted to run.

" Why are they staring?" Nat asked in a typical little boy whisper that could be easily heard by everyone.

"Remember how I told you that Daddy and I met at work?" Mac looked only at Nat as she spoke and he nodded, "Well these are the people we worked with."

"Okay," he whispered and buried his head in her shoulder, suddenly shy from all the attention.

"Mom," little A.J. tugged on the edge of Harriet's shorts, recognizing the woman from photographs and phone calls, "Is that Auntie Mac?"

"Yes, it is."

"Good," he ran over to hug her, wanting to be picked up as well, "Hi!"

"Hey buddy," she set Nat down and he latched onto her leg, while she picked up A.J. and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I missed you."

"Me too," she set him back down.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Jen whispered to Mattie.

"Clueless," Mattie glanced at Harm whose face was frozen in shock, "But Harm obviously does."

"I believe that's the former Colonel MacKenzie," Tracy threw in, "I took over her office."

"Oh," Mattie and Jen said in unison and they returned to watch things play out.

"It's so good to see you," Harriet was the first adult to say anything and hugged her former best friend.

"Same here," she smiled and turned to Bud, "How are you?"

"Great, ma'am."

"Bud," she warned as she hugged him.

"Sorry," he laughed.

"Now I know this sounds crazy," Harriet began, "But didn't you tell us your son was named Jonathan?"

"Yes—" she began.

"I'm Jonatan!" Nat declared.

"He has problems with the 'th' so we shortened it to Nat."

"I like it," Bud smiled.

"Me too," Nat grinned, immediately taking a liking to Bud. He looked at little A.J. who was clearly getting bored and then up to his mother, "Can we go play?"

"Yes, you may," she watched him run off. Her line of vision briefly fell on Harm, but both of them quickly looked away.

"Belated congratulations on your other child," the admiral told them, "Although you really should have called us."

"Sorry about that, sir," she answered, falling into old habits just like Bud had.

"Well, you'll just have to properly introduce me to her," he led her over to the playpen sending the official signal that it was time for his staff to resume their regular party activities.

* * *

She was back. She'd been back for a week, and Mattie had been babysitting her kids. He had driven to her house and played with her kids, without knowing that they were hers. No wonder Nat looked so familiar; he clearly had Mac's face, but with Brumby's curly hair. Mattie had said she thought 'Sarah' was in the process of getting a divorce. Did that mean that she and Brumby were over?

He watched her showing off her daughter to the admiral. Her hair was longer and lighter, probably from the Australian sun, the same sun that gave her a healthy tan. In her khaki pants and simple purple top, she was just as beautiful as the last time they spoke. And now she was back.

"So that's Mac," Sturgis interrupted his thoughts. He had joined JAG after Mac had left, Harm had told him about her while they were rebuilding his car.

"That's Mac."

" And?"

"And what, Sturgis?"

"And are you going to talk to her?"

"She's talking with the admiral," he answered defensively.

"For now."

* * *

"Okay, ma'am," Jen pulled Harriet away from Bud, "Spill."

"That's 'Mac' or Sarah Brumby nee MacKenzie," she explained to Tracy, Jen, and Mattie, "She was a Lt. Colonel with JAG until she resigned her commission and moved to Australia with her husband."

"The one in the Royal Australian Navy?" Tracy asked, having heard more scuttlebutt on the topic.

"Yes, Mic Brumby," Harriet nodded, "He was TAD to JAG HQ for a while, and he and Mac got married. They moved to Australia when his mother got sick, but apparently they're back."

"Not him, just her," Mattie told them.

"What?"

"Sarah's made no mention of the kid's father and I've never seen her wear a ring," Mattie shrugged, "I assumed they're in the process of divorcing."

"Really," Harriet excused herself to go find Bud.

* * *

"Is Brumby in Australia?" the admiral asked, holding Talia. He immediately noticed her lack of ring and wanted to ask her about it without the audience, Mac gave a slight nod in response, "What happened?"

"It didn't work out."

"Mac," he knew her too well to just let it go at that, "There's more isn't there?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, "I don't want to talk about it."

"You'll have to at some point."

"Not if I can help it."

"Rabb will ask you about it," he told her, "So will Harriet and Bud."

"They probably will," she sighed, "Everything became such a mess. I just want to leave it all across the ocean."

"Well, it's too late for that now," he handed her back her daughter, "She really is beautiful."

"Thanks."

"If you need to talk—"

"I know."

"It's good to see you again."

"You too," she watched him walk away and found her gaze lingering on Harm. She had hoped it would be gone, but even after all this time she still was not over him.

* * *

A/N: I know, I'm a bum for the lack of Harm/Mac interaction, but you'll just have to deal with the dramatic build-up…hehehe!

Dansingwofl…don't feel stupid, I'm a little crazy about the naming it was a silly joke with my sister…if you say the two names Nat Talia together, then it sounds like Natalia…I hope this chapter actually conveyed what people's reactions would be because this is really the mother of all coincidences…or a cosmic joke…ah…now I'm rambling!

Ukone…I know what you mean…the continuation of fan fic is the only way I get through the lack of actual show!

Anita…Yup, I'm mean…I'm part of cliffie's anonymous…anyway…right now Mac's working at the hospital, but a lot of things are bound to change for her…

Lawandordersvu1… since you asked so nicely I might try working on that…

DD2…picking out the names is half the fun…I'm glad you like them!

Radiorox…from my own babysitting experiences I learned that Barney is the devil and the Teletubbies are his minions…as for Mic/Mac, well, she obviously came to DC alone for a reason…as for the questions…will she answer them…you know much she enjoys avoiding the issue…any issue…

KittyX, EternalSleep, Shalimar2, Bite Beccy, Achaon, Starryeyes10, & Dessler…thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, and thanks for putting up with me!


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own them…I'm just playing with them…

A/N: So not quite as fast as before, but I'm working on it. Thanks for all the reviews and happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

With some coaxing from Harriet, Mac agreed to spend the next hour at the picnic. Harriet introduced her to Jen and Tracy, knowing that both Harm and Mac were trying to avoid each other. While she did not agree the pair's avoidance of the issue, Harriet knew that there was nothing she could do…at the moment. Her attempts to steer the conversation away from Harm were successful until Tracy excused herself to speak with Sturgis. With only Mattie and Jen remaining, Harriet gave up and let them lead the conversation.

"So, Mac," Mattie addressed her employer. After the revelation of who 'Sarah' really was, Mac suggested that Mattie just call her 'Mac' to make it simpler for everyone, "When you were with JAG did you ever work with Commander Rabb?"

"I was his partner actually," she paused a beat, "Is he your guardian?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm lucky I guess," she forced a smile. Of course Harm would be her babysitter's guardian. Why do these things always happen to her?

'Fate' Harriet mouthed to her, but Mac just raised an eyebrow and gave a small shake of her head. Harriet responded with a look that said, 'You know I'm right.'

"I'm the lucky one," Mattie continued, completely unaware of the silent conversation, "Harm's the best thing to ever happen to me."

_Me too_, Mac responded mentally before she could stop herself, "How did Harm become your guardian?"

"My family owned this aviation company that did crop management and stuff. My dad was away, so I was running things by myself," Mattie explained, assuming Mac would understand the implied details, "Well, one day Harm was flying Sarah, his—"

"Biplane, I know," Mac cut her off before she could explain, "Let me guess he had to make an emergency landing because of a busted fuel line."

"Yeah, actually," she continued, wondering how Mac knew all of this, "I offered him a line from the garage, but he told me he always flew with an extra after an unfortunate incident caused by a busted fuel line in Appalachia."

"Unfortunate incident?" Mac scoffed, "I ended up getting shot by deranged poachers."

"Wait, you were the friend that was with him?" Mattie sounded genuinely surprised. When Harm first told her the story, he spoke of his 'friend' in a way that made Mattie think of her as a lost love, but in the last hour Harm hadn't said one word to his friend.

"I have the scar to prove it."

"Wow," she shrugged off her thoughts of whatever went on between Harm and Mac in the past, "Anyway, Harm and I got to talking and I told him about my situation and within a few months I was moved in with Jen."

"Mattie and I are roommates," the petty officer explained sensing Mac's confusion, "The commander lives down the hall. I agreed to stay with Mattie as a sort of co-guardian in exchange for a lower rent."

"Sounds like a good deal," Mac looked over to Talia who no longer appeared as happy in the playpen, "Well, it's after two and I really need to get Talia home for her nap."

"How did you do that?" Jen glanced down at her watch.

"What?"

"Know the exact time without looking at a clock?" she clarified.

"I've got excellent timing," she shrugged, "Mattie, where are the kid's car seats?"

"In Harm's car," she started to get up, "I can go get his keys."

"You stay," Mac knew that should have to talk to Harm and preferred to do it alone, "I'll get them,"

* * *

"Hey, Harm," Mac tentatively approached him where he was talking with Bud, "I need to get the car seats from your car."

"Sure," he turned to Bud, "Excuse us."

"No problem, sir," he looked back to his wife who was clearly happy their friends were talking alone.

"Welcome back," Harm told her as they walked to the parking lot.

"Thanks," she sighed.

"Get tired of Australia or something?"

"Or something."

"Where's Brumby?"

"Australia."

"Why?"

"He likes it there," she shrugged.

"Mac!"

"What?"

"Tell me what happened," he stopped in front of his SUV.

"We're over."

"I got that, what else?"

"That's it," she crossed her arms and leaned against the hood.

"How about why?" he prodded.

"He's not the man I thought he was."

"I could have told you that."

"I know," she snapped without meaning to, "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," he knew there was more, but he also knew she would not tell him anything else now, "Mattie introduced me to your kids. They're great."

"Thank you, I know," she smiled, "Although Talia's going to stop being so great if she doesn't get home for her nap."

"I'm on it," he unlocked the doors and they each unhooked a car seat.

"Mattie told me how you became her guardian," Mac led the way to her car, "I think it's great what you're doing for her."

"Well, I'm trying."

"From what I can see you're succeeding."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled and they silently strapped the seats into her car, "Well, I better go get the kids."

"Do you want to have dinner some time?" Harm asked suddenly, "You know, to talk?"

"Yes," she paused, "Is your number the same."

"Yeah."

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

"You can't sleep either, Tali-babe?" Mac walked into her daughter's room just after midnight that night. She picked up Talia and sat down in the rocker, and looked around the room, which was small compared to the Nursery she had in Sydney. Unlike her old room, this one barely fit the rocking chair, changing table, and crib. Most of her clothes were in a trunk in Nat's room, which wasn't really that much bigger. The entire house was small, but cozy.

"You're lucky your so little," she began in a soothing voice, "You weren't bothered by the craziness of today. Things would not have been so bad if it wasn't for Harm. He makes everything complicated. Harm and I worked together long before I met Daddy and we became best friends. Neither one of us was willing to say it, but we liked each other, not just liked but _liked_.

"Then I met your father, and he had no problem telling me that he like me. At first he would tell me too much, but eventually he grew on me. Unfortunately, I liked Harm too, and one day I decided to put it all on the table. Do you know what he did? Nothing. He did nothing. Then Daddy proposed and I said maybe. After a while, Harm still did nothing, so I gave up and agreed to marry Daddy.

"Don't think I didn't love your daddy, because I did. It's just so complicated that even I have problems keeping it everything straight. Now we're here and Harm wants me to call him. What do you think I should do?" she looked down at her daughter who had drifted back off to sleep. Mac laid her gently back into her crib and stood there watching her steady breathing, "Sweet dreams."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know, I'm stalling again on the conversation…but you have to know that they would not get into everything in a public park in front of everyone…well actually, they may but there's been enough drama already, so they're being cautious this time.

Shalimar2…You'll put up with me forever? Does that give me permission to taunt you? Hehehe!

Jaggurl… The legitimate interaction is coming…don't worry there will be a dinner!

Macandharmlover…Your questions will be answered at dinner

BiteBeccy…I love your math system…hehehe! Unfortunately they're both lawyers, so their mathematic skills may be lacking…they like to do everything the long way.

Anita…I don't actually know if this was longer…but I'm doing my best!

Radiorox…Maybe my speed is a sign of a psychotic break…oh well…there is definitely more to the Bugme story…even when Mac starts telling people you know she's going to gloss over some stuff…she did gloss over her entire first marriage…

KittyX…Thanks, I hope you liked it.

Dansingwolf…the truth about Bugme will come out…all in good time…so you just have to try and be patient.

AJ…thanks for the encouragement!

Sam…I'm glad the story drew you in…it kind of did the same thing when it was floating around in my head to getting on the 'puter.

TheJag…I know what you mean…them being parted and meeting up again keeps going back to fate…

And anyone else I may have missed….THANKS!


	6. Chapter Four and a Half

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Sorry about the delay in updating, but my life has dropped into chaos. First work was far more hectic then I would have liked it to have been last week. Secondly, I have guests staying at my house that distract me. Finally, My computer is on the fritz and I'm getting it looked at. (Actually, I gave a friend a disk and she's posting this for me from her place.) That said, this chapter is ridiculously short, but I wanted to let y'all know that I wasn't deserting you for a month long hiatus. My houseguests will be gone on Friday morning and my computer should be up and running Thursday night, so I promise to update this weekend. Thanks for understanding (I hope) and happy reading!

* * *

"Hello," Harm answered the phone Sunday evening.

"Hi, it's me."

"I'd almost given up on you calling," he sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry. I was tied up at the airport. Chloe's spring break is this week so she's visiting."

"That's okay," he paused, "How is Chloe?"

"Good," Mac looked over at Chloe who was playing with Nat in the other room, "She just got her license and wants drive me everywhere."

"Mattie won't be 16 until this summer," Harm laughed, "How long will Chloe be staying with you?"

"She flies home Thursday morning, so I'm free for dinner after that."

"The admiral has me out of town starting Thursday afternoon."

"Next week then?" she smiled with relief.

"I don't want to put this off, Mac," he sighed, "I could make us dinner at my place, and Chloe could take the kids and hang out at Mattie and Jen's place."

"I don't want to make Chloe do that. She's here as my guest."

_"What don't you want to make me do?_" Harm heard Chloe ask over the line before Mac covered up the phone. He strained to hear what was going on, but couldn't make anything out besides Mac muttering, "Fine."

"Hey, Harm!" Chloe greeted merrily.

"Hey, Chloe, how are you?"

"Swell, you?"

"I'm well."

"Mac wanted me to tell you that we'd love to come for dinner. I know she said she didn't want to ditch me with the kids on my vacation, but I haven't seen you in ages and you're cooking."

"All right then," Harm smiled at Chloe's rambling, "How does Tuesday sound?"

"Tuesday would be great," Chloe grinned at Mac who looked slightly sullen, "As long as you don't make your meatless meatloaf."

"I won't," he paused, "How do you know about that?"

"Mac warned me," she giggled, "Bye, Harm."

"Goodbye, Chloe."

* * *

A/N: I wasn't kidding when I said it was ridiculously short. Again, I apologize. Expect more this weekend!


	7. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Well, things are back to normal, which means I'll be posting more frequently…happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

"Calm down," Chloe told Mac as they road the elevator up to Harm's floor, "It is just Harm."

"My point exactly," she shifted Talia from one hip to the other, "It's Harm."

"Perfect, you'll be fine."

"Ha."

"Just tell him everything you told me."

"It's different."

"Why?"

"Because."

"I'm not Harm, right?"

"Yes," Mac felt the elevator stop on Harm's floor, "You're my little sister, and he's—"

"Harm," she took Nat's hand and walked out of the elevator, "I know. We've established that."

"Chloe, please."

"Okay," she rolled her eyes.

"And no rambling on about anything to Mattie."

"I'll use my discretion," she turned to Nat, "Okay, you can knock on the door."

"Use my discretion," Mac warned.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes again, "Door's opening."

"I can see that," she rolled her eyes back and broke into a cheery smile, "Hey Harm."

"Hello Ladies," he bent down to Nat's level, "And gentleman."

"Hi," he grinned shyly as Chloe ushered him in.

"So, Harm," Chloe began when she noticed Mac remain silent, "What are you making us for dinner?"

"Veggie lasagna and garlic bread," he walked over to the table behind the couch and pulled two objects from a bag. He hid them behind his back and handed the first to Nat, "This if for you, buddy."

"Wow," he took the plastic airplane with big eyes, "Thanks."

"That's an F-14," Harm explained, "I fly those."

"Cool!" Nat immediately began racing around the room imitating an airplane.

"Slow down," Chloe chased after him, making sure he didn't break anything or himself.

"And this is for you," he whipped out a stuffed clownfish and handed it to Talia who grasped it happily.

"You trying to turn my kids into squids?" Mac gave him a wry smile.

"It's _Finding Nemo_," Harm tapped the fish's fin.

"Right," she smirked, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"What about me?" Chloe rejoined them holding Nat and his plane in a flying position, "Kidding, you don't have to buy my affection."

"I'm not buying their affection," he defended.

"You're just trying to turn them into sailors?" Chloe teased, having picked up on theme of the gifts as well.

"I am not," he looked shocked and pointed a finger at Mac, "You've been with this one for too long."

"Don't blame me," Mac grinned, "Chloe's smart."

"Knock, knock," Mattie announced as she entered the apartment.

"Hey Mattie," Harm smiled, "This is Chloe Madison."

"Hi, I'm Mac's 'little sister,'" she plopped Nat to the ground and made the air quotes.

"Hi, I'm Mattie Grace, 'Harm's kid,'" she smirked offering her hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," she shook her hand.

"Hi Mattie," Nat grinned, "Look what I got!"

"Way cool," Mattie ruffled his hair.

"So Mattie," Harm began, "Where's Jen?"

"Shower," Mattie walked over to the kitchen to check on the lasagna, "She sent me over to get the food."

"It should be ready," he walked over to help her load half of the food onto a tray, "We figured kids in one apartment and adults in the other."

"You better not let Jen hear that idea," Mattie laughed, "I don't think she'd like to be lumped in with the kids."

"That's what she gets for showering," he turned to Chloe and Mac, "Does that work for you?"

"Sounds great," Chloe grabbed the diaper bag and reached for Talia, "Give me Talia."

"Okay, make sure she gets her bottle," Mac handed her over and looked down at Nat, "You be good for Mattie and Auntie Chloe."

"I will," he dutifully grabbed Chloe's free hand.

"Let's go," Chloe led Nat to the door where Harm held it open for Mattie with the tray of food. Before walking out, she winked at Mac, "Have a nice dinner."

"That was subtle," Mac watched him close the door.

"What?" he asked innocently returning to the kitchen to serve their portion of the lasagna.

"The kid's apartment?"

"I figured we could do without the audience."

"You don't want to talk in front of my two kids, your ward, and my little sister?" she teased following him to the table with the garlic bread.

"Don't forget the admiral's yeoman," he set down the plates of lasagna and sat down.

"Smells good," Mac smiled and looked down at her food suddenly not sure what to talk about. There was so much to say; yet she had no idea where to start, "Tastes good too."

"Thanks," he smiled, clearly facing the same difficulty in conversation that she was, "So what's Talia's full name?"

"That's random," she took a sip of her water.

"Sorry, Mattie was wondering," he shrugged, "I told her that Nat was 'Jonathan Matthew' and she wanted to know about Talia."

"Talia Micheline," she answered purposely leaving off the last name.

"How did you pick Talia?"

"It's a variation of the Persian name Talayeh, which means golden rays of sun. I wanted to keep it as it was, but Mic insisted on Anglicizing it," her face twitched slightly when she said his name. Most people would not have caught it, but she knew that Harm did.

"What happened with him?" he proved her right.

"Do I have to?"

"You don't want to?" he asked although he already knew the answer.

"Not particularly," Mac looked away quickly, always the queen of avoidance.

"I won't force you," he returned to his lasagna, clearly the king of avoidance.

* * *

"So Chloe," Jen began as they sat around the table at the girl's place, "How long have you known the commander and the colonel?"

"About five years," she thought back, "Mac took me on as her little sister when I was eleven-ish and that's when I met Harm. Although I really haven't seen him since Mac moved to Australia three years ago."

"But you knew them before," Mattie began.

"Yes," Chloe answered cautiously, "Why?"

"Well, what were they like?" Mattie pressed, "Harm and Mac?"

"They were best friends," she answered noncommittally.

"B.S." Jen said then added quickly, "Sorry, but we both got a vibe."

"Okay," Chloe sighed, she promised Mac but these girls clearly needed to be clued in on the history. She seriously doubted that anything would come of this little dinner the two were having, and the more people she could put in their corner, the better. Deep down, Chloe knew that her crusade may be hopeless, but after that many years she couldn't give up, "But you have to swear to secrecy or Mac will kill me."

"Done," both Jen and Mattie held up their hands in a vow.

"Good," she wasn't going to tell them everything, just the key details, "We need to start at the beginning. Harm and Mac met while working this case…"

* * *

"Your place still looks the same," Mac said a few minutes later, "Except for the plants."

"I figured that some change is good."

"You know the last time I was in here I was pregnant with Nat," she thought back to that night.

"I figured as much," he remembered doing the math when he got the birth announcement, "Is they why you were okay with the idea of leaving the Corps?"

"I was never really okay with it," she sighed, "I just couldn't stay with the baby."

"Harriet did."

"Harriet has Bud. I don't."

"You had Mic."

"He's no Bud," she answered with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Talk to me."

"Things weren't that bad," she began, knowing his mind was jumping to conclusions, "It just didn't work out."

"When did it change?" his voice tinged with concern.

"After Nat was born. I wanted to work, but Mic wanted me to stay at home. I hired a nanny; he fired her. I gave in because I didn't really know where I would work. I couldn't practice law, so I didn't think it was worth fighting," she explained, avoiding his gaze, "We tried to make it work, but it didn't. I was going to file for divorce when I found out I was pregnant with Talia. We were better for a while, but after she was born things started going down hill. Mic had become controlling and irrational."

"How so?"

"He came home one day to find me teaching Nat Farsi and telling him about the Koran like my grandmother taught me. He told me never to do it again stressing the fact that his children were Catholic and don't need any other religion," she shook her head to rid herself of the memory and to forget the details she left out, "It wasn't that big of deal, but those kind of things built up. Finally, two weeks ago he left for a conference or something so I packed up the kids and left."

"Wait, you just took them and left?" he began warily, "You sure that was smart?"

"I'm not going to be charged with international abduction Harm," she assured him, "I left the divorce papers on the kitchen table."

"I just wanted be sure there wasn't going to be a repeat of what happened when you ran from Ragle."

"This isn't the same," she snapped, confirming his suspicions that there was more to the story, "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"It's not okay," she countered, "I left and returned with no explanation. That's not fair to you."

"I wasn't very fair to you either," he replied, "I was never honest with you."

"Neither was I," she sighed and looked away.

"Then let's start at the beginning," he suggested, "We both will be honest from here on out."

"Deal," she gave a cautious smile. This was good, she hoped.

* * *

* * *

Radiorox – I think the frying plan suggestion would really help…I'm sure Chloe would be glad to help…and a number of readers…

JamieAKAaclassyone – Thanks…my week improved thanks to my excellent friends and a clean bill of health for the 'puter.

Dansingwolf – they're moving…slowly but surely

s.Imple p.Ain – Ahh…anything but that!

' - Hopefully I'll be able to better justify her dropping contact, but as for maturity both of them seem to lack it…otherwise I feel I need to warn you…this will be HM shipper so brace yourself…

Harmless128 – I don't know what you're thinking but this story may just lead to a deep-fried dingo…

Verochan – Thanks…have a great day too!

Abigaile – They're finally conversing…yay!

XLovexNxPainx – welcome to the anti-Barney cult!

Bite Beccy – But those two just love the scenic route!

Jaggurl – I hope you found the dinner delicious!

Shailmar2 – Now I have you right where I want you…muhahaha!

Mxfan214, Starryeyes10, Tate.ArI.Obsessed.Writers, macandharmlover, Anita, lawandordersvu1, Sammy, Kittyx, Manda, and anyone else – Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own them…I'm just playing with 'em!

A/N: Okay, this chapter has flashbacks (in italics) to Mac/Mic's marriage; so if you can't stand the thought of them and have a weak stomach, brace yourself. Actually, it's not that bad, but I just want everyone to be prepared. Also remember that little Nat's full name is Jonathan and that his parents called him that when he was first born. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

That night Harm sat in his apartment an hour after Mac and company had left. The rest of the dinner had gone very well. He and Mac had talked, updating each other on their respective lives. Mac had talked mostly about her kids, and Harm quickly realized that she was just as good of a mother as he had told her she would be. Through all the stories, Harm found it odd that she never once mentioned friends she had made in Australia or anything outside her family. He respected that she was a devoted mother, but that kind of thing did not seem like the Mac he knew.

There were times over the dinner when he forgot that she was not just the Mac he knew. It was easy for them to slip back into the comfortable banter of the old days and forget about the last three years. Any time his mind did drift off, the occasional look in Mac's eyes would bring him back. Her eyes always appeared guarded, like there was something she didn't want to let out. It's not that her eyes ever really revealed her emotions because she always held some things back, but there used to be more.

In fact, the only time she had ever let her guard drop was that night in Sydney harbor, but after he told her 'no' it was back. Looking back on it, Harm knew that he did not come out and say that, but his answer of 'not yet' to her question about letting go had the same effect. He had never regretted saying any words like he did with those. If only he had been honest, then Mac's whole marriage to Brumby may not have happened. Rationally, he knew that he should not blame himself. Mac was the one who said 'I do' and walked way from him. Unfortunately, Harm also knew that he gave her no reason to stay. They were both guilty.

It was not until Mac told him that she was pregnant that Harm truly realized what he had lost. The baby deal was over and he had lost the woman he truly loved. Harm did spend the last three years pining away for Mac. On the contrary, he dated and had fun but his mind would eventually drift back to her, like a nagging thought in the corner of his mind. And now she was back.

Harm's thoughts were interrupted when he spotted a bit of pink sticking out for the corner of the couch. Walking over he picked up the cushion to find one tiny ruffled pink sock, which no doubt belonged to Talia. After they had finished eating, Mattie and Chloe dropped the kids back with them and retreated to Mattie's room to chat. During the 'playtime' Talia insisted on crawling around barefoot, which gave him the perfect excuse to visit Mac the next day.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Chloe muttered to Mac when she felt her get up from the bed. The two were sharing Mac's bed while Chloe was there. 

"Just to get some tea," Mac slipped on her robe, "Go back to sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Chloe rolled over and promptly did just that.

Mac quietly shut the door, and headed downstairs to make some herbal tea. She had work the next morning and should be sleeping too, but her mind was going a mile a minute thanks to for little letters: H-A-R-M. The dinner had gone well, almost too well. Everything was almost easy. Harm made great lasagna, didn't pressure her for extra details about Mic, and was great playing with her kids, who clearly adored him. This was all good, right?

Wrong, Mac thought as she set the pot of water on the stove. She could not understand why Harm was not upset with her. She was the one who left D.C. and everything in it behind only to show up suddenly three years later. He should be mad at her, not accepting and understanding. She had screwed up and it was her fault. It was her marriage that fell apart and she should have to rebuild her life alone. Harm did not have to help.

Mac sighed as she dropped her tea bag into her mug and poured the boiling water over it. Her mind naturally drifted to Mic. Her current situation would be so much easier if she could look back on her engagement and marriage to Mic and see it as all bad. If she could look back and say it was doomed from the start, then she would be able to justify how it ended. Unfortunately she could not, because Mac legitimately loved Mic. Of course there was that lingering…thing…with Harm, but she wanted to build a life and a family with Mic. Things were good…

_"Mic where are we?" Mac laughed as he helped her out of the car, "We've been driving for 1 hour and 7 minutes and you've had be blindfolded for the last 21."_

_"You have to wait," he led her down a path, "That's the point of a surprise."_

_"Well, I don't like surprises."_

_"You'll like this one."_

_"So you say."_

_"Okay," he stops them and unties the blindfold, "Open your eyes."_

_"Oh, Mic," she gasped as she looked at a beautiful three-bedroom house. It was surrounded by gardens and lay steps away from the ocean. She looked up to her husband and gave him a kiss, "It's beautiful."_

_"Wait until you see the inside. With that he took her hand and led her inside. The first floor was spacious and had plenty of windows offering great views. He led her up to the second floor and ended it in what was obviously the master bedroom, "So what do you think?"_

_"What do I think?" she turned away from the windowed doors that led to a balcony._

_"Of this place," he smiled, "It could be our home."_

_"Our home?"_

_"Yeah, imagine waking up every morning to that view, Sarah," he walked to the window and guided her out of the room to the bedroom right next door, "Walking down the hall to the nursery to wake up our little boy or girl. Then later we can watch our little one take his or her first steps on the beach."_

_"Keep going," she told him as she began to imagine the room with gauzy curtains and white furniture._

_"There will be sandcastles, seashells, and surfing," he wrapped his arms around her letting them rest on her stomach, "And when we're old and gray, we can sit on the porch and watch our grandchildren play in the waves."_

_"We're already to grandchildren?" she smirked looking up at him, "I'm barely six months pregnant."_

_"Well, what do you say?"_

_"About grandkids?"_

_"About the house."_

_"Yes," she turned around to face him, "It's going to be perfect."_

_"Just like you," he smiled before kissing her._

The house really was perfect, except that the nearest neighbors were about fifteen minutes away. At first this freaked Mac out, but Mic explained that he wanted his children to grow up in a place where they could run without having to worry about traffic or strangers. Having loved the solitude of the Arizona desert as a child, Mac agreed that the privacy would be a good thing and they moved in. Mac got her gauzy curtains in the nursery and Nat was able to take his first wobbling steps in the sand.

Like she had told Harm, things started going down hill a little after Nat was born. Mic became overprotective and possessive, but it was more than him not wanting her to work. He also did not like her driving because she wasn't used to Australian roads and he didn't want Nat to be in any danger. Mac told him he was being ridiculous, but agreed not drive unless it was an emergency because she would never forgive herself if something happened to baby boy. She never realized that he was allowing him to isolate her. There were a lot of things she failed to realize…

_"What are you looking at?" Mic came up behind Mac while she was on the computer._

_"I didn't hear you come in," she stood up to give him a kiss and put his cover and briefcase away. After they decided they were going to stay in Australia, he had returned to the Navy, "How was work?"_

_"The same," he walked over the Jonathan's rocky-swing to give the six-month-old a kiss on the head._

_"That case you were telling me about – Rawlings or something – how is it going?" she slipped the casserole she had made into the oven._

_"It's going well," he glanced at the computer, "What were you doing?"_

_"I was looking at flights."_

_"Flights?"_

_"Yes," she wiped her hands on a towel, "I was thinking we could go back to D.C. for Christmas. I'm sure Harriet will be throwing her usual party and I'd love to bring Jonathan to see everyone. It's been so long since we've seen everyone and I really miss them all. What do you think?"_

_"I don't think so, Sarah," he clearly did not look excited about the prospect, "I already told my uncle that we would host my family's Christmas party."_

_"What? When did you do that?"_

_"A couple weeks ago."_

_"You committed us to this without consulting me!"_

_"I didn't think you'd object," he shrugged, "They're your family too."_

_"I'm going to have to do all the cooking and cleaning, so asking me would have been a good idea."_

_"I'll make sure I do that next time."_

_"Good," she handed him the phone, "Now call your uncle and tell him that we won't be hosting the party."_

_"I can't do that."_

_"Christmas is over a month away and one of your cousins can host the party, because we are going to be in DC!"_

_"I am not going to DC!" he slammed the phone on the counter causing her to flinch slightly._

_"Fine! Jonathan and I will go and you can throw the party," she brushed past him to look in one of the cabinets, "Where are our passports?"_

_"In a vault at the bank. I wanted to keep them safe."_

_"Well bring them home with you tomorrow after work."_

_"Sarah, don't do this," his voice lost the confrontational tone._

_"I'm not doing anything," she sighed, "I just want to see my friends – our friends. We haven't seen them in so long and after what happened with Bud, we need to. He was your best man, don't you want to see him?"_

_"Of course I do, but not now," he looked over at their son, "It's going to be his first Christmas and I want him to spend it with his parents in his house. We can visit Harriet and Bud in the spring."_

_"Okay."_

_"Good, I'm going to go change out of my uniform" he gave her a quick kiss and headed for the stairs, "Besides when was the last time you heard from anyone from JAG? They probably aren't even thinking of us."_

_At the time, Mac had said nothing about that comment and when Mic came back downstairs he made no mention of it, but that night she began mulling over it. It had been a while since she had heard from anyone. Phone calls were always rare because of the time change, but it had been two weeks since her last e-mail. She began to think that maybe they were all forgetting about her. As for the passports, Mic never brought them home and Mac never asked for them._

Mac whipped her teabag into the garbage can as if throwing out the memory and walked to the couch with her tea. Other than Christmas cards, Mac received no contact from her friends in D.C. It was not until a few months after Talia was born that Mac discovered that Mic had been screening her e-mails and deleting e-mails before she could read them. He had even told the phone company to block any incoming international calls. After that Mac began making plans to leave Mic and Australia. It was odd that this was the final straw considering…

_It was Nat's first birthday and she and Mic had thrown him the birthday party to end all birthday parties. Mic's entire extended family was present and everyone was having a good time. Mac was walking through the kitchen holding Nat when Mic's cousin Ian came over._

_"That little boy's adorable, Sarah."_

_"Thanks Ian," Mic came up behind him with a beer and slapped him on the shoulder with his free hand._

_"I was complementing, Sarah," Ian took a swig of his own beer, "This little boy takes after her."_

_"Watch it," Mic warned jokingly, making them all laugh._

_"Really though, that kid doesn't look a thing like you," he teased, "You sure he's yours?"_

_"Ian!" Mac slapped him lightly and laughed, "You're terrible."_

_She walked away laughing, completely unaware of the angry look in Mic's eyes. The rest of the party went well. All the men drank a little too much, but Mac had quickly learned that this was typical behavior for a gathering of Brumby men. Under normal circumstances she refused to have anything to do with Mic if he drank, but an occasional party she could overlook. After the last of the guests left, Mac took a very tired Nat upstairs to sleep and returned to start cleaning up the kitchen._

_"Hey Mic!' she called into the family room, "Could you bring the appetizer trays in here."_

_"Here," he unceremoniously plopped them onto the counter._

_"Could you put them in the sink?" she asked without looking up from the leftovers she was putting into Tupperware._

_"You do it."_

_"I'm a little busy. Can't you help?"_

_"This is your job. I bring home the money and you keep the house."_

_"God, Mic!" she snapped the lid closed on the container and put it in the fridge, "I hate how you act when you drink."_

_"And how is that?"_

_"Like a chauvinistic pig!"_

_"I'm sorry I'm not the perfect gentleman that your Flyboy is."_

_"What?"_

_"Come on, Sarah, I know how you call Harm 'Flyboy,'" he mocked, "It's just so cute."_

_"You're upset about Harm? I haven't heard from him in months."_

_"But you heard from him plenty when I was with my mother in Sydney and you were in D.C." he sneered angrily._

_"I saw him at JAG, that was it," she put her hand on his arm to calm him, "You're the man I married and a year ago today I gave birth to your son."_

_"Is he?" he pulled her and off his arm and gripped it tightly._

_"Mic!" she jerked her hand from his grasp, "Is this because of what Ian said, but he was giving you a hard time."_

_"Am I the father?"_

_"This is crazy," she shook her head."_

_"Am I?"_

_"Of course you are!"_

_"You're lying," he took a step towards her._

_"I'm not," she took a step back._

_"Yes, you are!" with that he lunged to hit her, but Mac ducked out of the way. She may have left the Corps, but some things stuck._

_"Get out!" she ordered fiercely and he turned to leave, allowing her to exhale with relief. This brief distraction gave Mic the opportunity to slam her against the wall._

_"Don't tell me what to do," he held her tight as she struggled. When she realized that she couldn't break free she froze and glared at him disgustedly, "Now tell me the truth!"_

_"I did not then nor I have ever slept with Harm. The only man who could possibly be that little boy's father is you. If still don't believe me, tomorrow we can all go to the hospital and get a DNA test," he released her from his grip and she quickly moved across the kitchen, "I'm going upstairs," she spat, "And I do not think it would be wise for you to follow me."_

_Mac raced up the stairs and gently took Nat from his room. She carried him into the master bedroom and locked the door behind her. After making sure he was safely settled in the middle of the large bad, Mac dashed into the bathroom and threw up._

Just thinking back to that night made Mac's stomach churn. She took deep breaths and calmly sipped the tea, waiting for her stomach to settle. The morning after Nat's first birthday, she had awoken to find Mic gone and an apology note saying that he was staying at a hotel until she was ready to talk to him. When she finally called him a few days later, she did so with the intention of asking him for a divorce, but he managed to convince her to have lunch with him. He apologized profusely and swore he would never drink again, and two weeks later Mac allowed him to move back in.

In hindsight it was stupid, but Nat missed his father and she missed having her family together. She had never made any real friends in Australia and without e-mails from people back in the States, Mac found it terribly lonely without Mic. Plus Mic kept his word and did not consume a drop of alcohol and was the perfect husband. Three months later, he was back to having the occasional beer but Mac let it slide because he never got drunk.

Mac walked over to the sink and dumped out the liquid that remained in her cup, deciding that it was doing nothing to help her sleep. Instead, she pulled out some files from work. If she couldn't sleep because of her thoughts, she would drown them out with legal contracts.

* * *

macandharmlover – Ask and ye shall receive…hehehe! 

JamieAKAaclassyone – So did that hit your suspicions?

' - I'm trying to be more "fair" on this, but this story is based on the fact that they both love each other and they're both guilty because she walked away and he gave her no reason to stay…thanks for reading even though our opinions differ.

Sammy – I'm glad you like it and thanks!

Harmless128 – Exxxcellent…we're going to need it!

Mxfan214 – Thanks…Mic's a bum that's what happened with him…plain and simple.

Nix707 – Thanks and welcome aboard…I'm always happy to have another shipper reading!

Jaggurl – Because we all know that Chloe's discretion is – well that of a 16-year-old. Although she is exactly what Harm and Mac need.

Shalimar – Thanks!

XLovexnxPainx – Hehehe…yup!

Radiorox – Well that really couldn't count as a full chapter…of course you can help with the frying pan…the more the merrier…they need it!

Starryeyes10 – Thanks!

All those other cool people who are reading – thanks and click that button to let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: They're not mine, but you already knew that…

A/N: Okay, this may be my last chapter for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to get one more in this weekend. I'm moving down to school next week, which means 8-9 hours driving through corn fields followed by a week of thrilling orientation activities. Actually, I'm excited, but it means that I won't have computer access for almost a week and I won't even have much time to write period. I will return, I promise. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

"Coming," Chloe called racing through Mac's empty house. She opened the front door and was surprised to find Harm standing there, "Hey Harm."

"Hi Chloe," he held up Talia's sock, "This was left at my house."

"Come on in," she took the sock and held open the door.

"Is Mac here?" he followed her, noticing how she was now a slender teenager without the baby fat she had when he last saw her.

"Not yet," Chloe led him into the kitchen and glanced at the clock, "She's picking up dinner on her way home from work, but she'll be home in like fifteen minutes."

"She left you home all day while she went to work?"

"I'm working on a research paper," she pointed at the stack of books and open notes sitting on the coffee table.

"You making progress?" Harm smirked, looking at the TV, which was showing VH1's _I Love the 90's Part Deux_.

"Definitely."

"So Mattie said you invited her to come to Connecticut to go horseback riding," he changed the subject figuring that Mac would have to play parent on this one.

"Yeah," she casually walked over to turn off the TV, "Can you believe she's never ridden a horse?"

"Not everyone gets to have their own horse, Chloe."

"True," she paused, "So do you want a tour of the house?"

"Sure," Harm allowed Chloe to lead him through the house. He thought some of the furniture did not really seem like 'Mac' but then Chloe explained that Mac rented the place with it partially furnished. The only changes that were made were to the room for Talia, which was an office when she moved in.

"So what do you think?" Chloe plopped down on the couch at the end of her tour.

"It's nice," he sat down on the opposite side of the couch.

"I'll tell Mac," she pursed her lips and continued, "You really should have seen her place in Australia. That was a beautiful house."

"You visited her in Australia?" he sounded genuinely surprised.

"That first Christmas after Nat was born and then right Talia after was born. I'm her godmother," she said proudly, "Anyway, that place was great. It was right on the beach and had beautiful gardens. If it wasn't for Bugme I would have insisted that she stay purely for the property."

"Wait, when did you start calling him 'Bugme'?" he asked, "I thought you liked Mic."

"I think I made transition during my last visit," she grinned, "I don't know how much Mac told you, but he turned out to be quite the jerk."

"She hinted at that."

"Yeah, well, here's an example: when I visited last time, I was calling Mac, well Mac, and Bugme got upset."

"Why?"

"Because she was a Brumby and shouldn't use a nickname from her maiden name."

"Seriously?" he could not believe that Mac would just take that.

"I called her 'Sarah' for the rest of my stay," she shrugged, "But I should stop now. Mac told me to use her discretion, not mine, when talking to Mattie and Jen, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for taking with you. Although I have to _strongly_ suggest that you make Mac tell you everything, but you're smart and I'm sure you've already figured that out."

"Thanks for the advice," Harm laughed amused by her ramblings.

"Anytime," she jumped up hearing the garage open, "Speak of the devil. I'll be right back."

"I'll wait here," he watched her dash off to the garage and began to process everything Chloe had told him. This on top of what Mac had told him made his blood boil. It was no secret that he had never like Brumby, but his feelings toward the Aussie were growing stronger by the second.

* * *

"Hey Mac," Chloe burst into the garage as Mac was helping Nat out of his car seat. 

"Do you want to grab Talia?"

"Sure," Chloe walked over to the other side of the car, "Harm's here."

"What?" her head snapped up.

"Yeah, he came by to return Talia's sock," she answered without looking up from her task of freeing Talia.

"When did he get here?"

"I don't know, like fifteen minutes ago. Stop freaking."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing," she stood up holding Talia, "I gave him a house tour and we talked."

"About what?"

"Stuff," she rolled her eyes, "Don't worry I used your discretion."

"You mean it?"

"Yes," Chloe shook her head, "Now calm down and get your son out of the car."

"Yeah Mummy!" Nat chimed in.

"Okay, grab the food from the passenger seat," she turned to back, "Let's go Mr. Man."

* * *

"Unca Harm!" Nat raced across the room when he spotted Harm, who swept him into a hug, "Hey buddy." 

"Hi Harm," Mac smiled at the sight of her son in his arms. Part of the reason for this was the fact that it matched her fantasy family with Harm, but the other reason was for Nat. It had been two weeks since he had last seen his father and she could tell he missed him. She did not want Harm to replace Mic's role as father, but he needed a positive male role model until she and Mic worked out a custody/visitation agreement.

"Hey Mac," he put Nat back on the ground and the little boy ran to play with his sister on the floor, "Chloe let me in."

"Yeah, she told me."

"Harm, do you want to stay for dinner?" Chloe asked holding up the bag of food, "We got Beltway Burgers."

"Beltway Burgers," he stared at Mac, "You're feeding your kids Beltway Burgers?"

"So what if I am?" she smirked.

"They're covered in grease. It's one thing for you to throw your health away, but them?"

"Mom's prerogative," Mac walked into the kitchen.

"I don't believe this," he shook his head and followed her.

"It's a special treat," she grabbed smashed carrots for Talia off the shelf, "And don't worry, you don't have to eat any."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"There's lettuce in the fridge if you want to make yourself a salad," she turned to Chloe who was putting plates on the table, "Would you mind getting Talia and Nat to the table?"

"Not at all," she called to Harm over her shoulder, "And you better get crackin' on that salad. It's not going to make itself."

"Neither will that paper of yours," he teased and opened the fridge. He was surprised to find everything neatly organized into containers. The last time he had seen her fridge it was a mess and filled with takeout containers.

"Go sit down," Mac came up behind him, "I'll make it."

"You have to kids to feed," he argued as she pulled vegetables from the fridge and put them on the counter.

"Will you eat grilled chicken or are you strictly rabbit food now?" she ignored him.

"Chicken would be good."

"Good, now go sit," she reached into a cabinet for a bowl.

"Mac," he grabbed her arm as she set it down, and she stiffened slightly, "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything," she returned to the salad making, "Just sit down, please."

"Okay," he sat down and looked at Chloe to see if she had caught any of that, but the teenager refused to meet his eyes. Instead he focused on Mac who was now calmly preparing his salad and telling Nat that he could not bring his toys to the table, even if it was the airplane 'Unca Harm' had given him. Whatever that moment was, it had clearly passed and things were back to normal. Harm did decide that he would take Chloe's advice regarding Mac. He needed to know what happened in Australia.

* * *

Nix707 – Aw you're comments about my writing make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…hehehe! As for our anonymous "friends," I kind of like fighting with 'em…it spices things up! 

Shalimar – I'm trying.

KittyX – Thanks, will do.

Macandharmlover – Of course he won't, but luckily she'll have one Harmon Rabb Jr. on her side this time.

Sammy – Thanks, and there will be now that flashbacks are out of the way

Mxfan214 – Thanks, I'm working on the speed thing…darn "real world" getting in the way…bleh

Jaggurl – Thanks for reading!

Dansingwolf – You definitely have a point about the legality in Mac just taking the children and I will get to that. I don't know a lot about international custody cases, but I'm assuming that since she's still legally married to Mic, Mac's within her rights to take the kids on "vacation" to the US especially since the kids have dual-citizenship. She also didn't take the children into hiding and left contact info with the divorce papers, so Mic can find them if he wants. Plus, Mac left when Mic was out of town so he doesn't know they're gone…yet. I'll be getting around to more details on all this eventually.

XLovexNxPaniX – Hehehe…I know but I didn't want Mac to have broken her marriage vows…as for you cousin…don't you just love family?

Now it's time for everyone to review…please!


	10. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: Still not mine…

A/N: Wow, this was so fast that I am even impressing myself. Actually I'm just trying to get as much in before that crazy move-in week of collegiate nonsense…Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

Harm ended up staying later than he expected at Mac's house that night. After dinner Nat asked Harm if he wanted to watch 'Thomas' with him and Harm agreed after checking with Mattie, who told him to stay. When he finally left, Mac walked him out to his car and they shared a goodbye hug. It wasn't much, but for them it was a lot.

The next morning, Mac drove Chloe to the airport on her way to work, and Harm went to work on an investigation aboard the Seahawk. The following Sunday, Mac received a call from Harm telling her that he was back and that he wanted to have dinner with her that week. Mac agreed and they scheduled it for Tuesday.

Monday, Mac got home from work and checked her answering machine, relieved to find no messages. She was not expecting any calls, but Mic had returned from his business trip the night before and was sure to have found the divorce papers in the empty house. Up until then, she had been sure to check in with him every day via her cell phone. She knew that it was simply delaying the inevitable, but she wanted to establish a stable home in D.C. before the divorce proceedings began.

She had researched her situation extensively and had gone over the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions to ensure that she was not violating it in anyway. As a custodian and American citizen, Mac was perfectly within her rights to take the children to America for a vacation as long as she provided Mic with contact information. Since Nat and Talia had spent all of their lives in Australia, the custody hearing would have to take place in the Australian courts, but Mac hoped it would not come to that. The agreement she had drawn up was very fair to Mic. Granted she got full custody leaving him with visitation, but the conditions were rather liberal. Mac did not want to isolate her children from their father; she simply wanted to isolate herself from him.

Realistically, she did not expect things to go that smoothly. There was no way that Mic would let this go without some form of confrontation, but Mac wanted to be on solid ground when it happened and not in that house where he had some type of power over her. Now it was only a waiting game, which ended while they were eating that evening.

"Doorbell!" Nat shouted jumping from his chair and racing toward the door.

"Slow down," Mac ordered setting down the spoon she was using to feed Talia, "And don't open that door until I get to see who it is."

"Okaaay," he exaggerated but waited until his mother opened the door. The minute she did, he let out a screech, "Daddy!"

"Hey kiddo!" Mic swept him into his arms and gave him a big kiss. Without setting him down, he leaned over to give Mac a kiss on the cheek, "Hello, luv."

"Do you want dinner?" she asked, shooting daggers at him with her glare.

"Eat with us Daddy," Nat pleaded.

"If you insist," he set down his son and followed Mac into the kitchen. He walked over to Talia who gurgled happily at the sight of him, "How's my princess?"

Mac quickly prepared a plate of pasta for him and handed it over without a word. She sat in stony silence eating her own meal and feeding Talia hers. Looking at Talia drink from her bottle, Mac could have sworn that her little girl was aware of the tension around her. Nat on the other hand, was oblivious to everything and sat eating while alternating between humming and chatting with his dad.

"I'm done!" Nat announced, with a spaghetti sauce smile.

"I can see that," she smiled back and led him to the sink, "Let's clean you off first."

"Can I show Daddy my room?" he whispered to her as she wiped his hands.

"Later," she cleaned his face and bopped him on the nose making him smile, "Why don't you go play with Daddy in the family room, okay?"

"Okay," he walked back toward Mic, "Daddy come play with me, please."

"In a minute," Mic gathered the dirty dishes and brought them over to Mac, "We need to talk."

"I'm aware, but I have to clean up and get Talia to bed first," she took the dishes from him, "Go play with your son."

* * *

Mac finished cleaning and carried Talia upstairs to her room. After a quick diaper change and switch into pajamas, Mac laid her gently in her crib. Walking across the room, Mac turned on the CD player so that it played classical music and soothing nature sounds and flicked off the lights, "Don't worry, Mommy's going to take care of everything. Sweet dreams, Tali-babe."

* * *

"And this is my favorite toy ever!" Nat declared and proudly held up his airplane. 

"Very cool airplane," Mic took the toy to look at it.

"It's an F-14," he explained wisely.

"I know that."

"Can I have it back?" Nat reached for it.

"Where did you get this?"

"Unca Harm."

"Uncle Harm?" Mic repeated his voice becoming angry as he looked up to find Mac walking into the room, "Uncle Harm?"

"I said that!" Nat pouted beginning to be scared by his voice, "Give it back."

"Give him the toy, Mic," Mac said calmly.

"I see you made no time introducing our son to Rabb," he turned to her angrily.

"We ran into each other at the park," she answered calmly, "Do you expect Nat to call him Commander?"

"Not uncle," he glared.

"Give it back, Daddy," Nat whined, on the verge of a tantrum.

"Be quiet!" Mic snapped.

"Mic-"

"No!"

"Fine," Mac reached for the plane, but his fist connected her face first and she fell into the couch. Seconds later Mic threw the toy against the wall breaking it in two and sending Nat into tears. She pushed past Mic and picked up Nat protectively, "I'm taking him upstairs to calm down."

She spun on her heel and raced upstairs trying to calm down her son and herself. Mic honestly did not hit her much – up until today she could have counted the times he had on one hand – and he never lashed out in anyway against the kids. Mac could deal with his temper if it only affected her and as long as her kids had no idea. When it all started, she swore that she never allow her children to witness what she had, until tonight.

"It's okay Mr. Nat," Mac told him as she carried him into Talia's room locking the door behind her, "It's okay."

"Mummy hurt?" he whimpered noticing the blood trickling down her chin from a split lip.

"Mummy's fine," she set him down on the rocker and wiped her face, "Here, sit down."

"Okay," he silently watched her spread a blanket on the floor and get Talia from her crib.

"Okay, Babe, you're going to play here with your brother, okay?" Mac set her down on the blanket with a couple of toys while Nat slid off the rocker to join her, "Now Mr. Nat, you're going to have to be very brave for Mommy. After I leave, I want you to lock the door and not let anyone in until I get back, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded solemnly.

"That's my boy. I love you two," she kissed both of them and stood up. Turning up the CD player to drown out any noises of downstairs, she walked out the door closing it firmly behind her. She heard the snick of the lock, took a deep breath, and headed downstairs to find Mic.

"I'm sorry," Mic said the minute she walked into the kitchen and offered her a damp rag filled with ice, "I don't know what came over me. He just said Harm's name and I got jealous, then something snapped. I'm really sorry."

"What are you doing here, Mic?" she ignored him and the ice he offered.

"I came to see my family, my wife," he offered her the ice again, "Take it."

"I don't need anything from you," she slapped the ice from his hand and it scattered across the floor, "And I am not your wife."

"Until I sign those papers you are," he sneered, "That is what you expected me to do when I found those papers in our empty house, right?"

"Yes, I expected you to sign them like any decent man would," she tensed her jaw, preparing for any reaction, "We've been over for months, Mic, and it's time you accept that."

"We're not over," he argued, "I still love you, and I know you still love me. We're a family."

"We stopped being a family the minute you lay a hand on me, and I stopped loving you a long time ago," she turned away from him, and he followed her to the front door, "Now leave."

"You can't just throw me out, Sarah," he argued pointing up the stairs, "I'm their father."

"Get out, or I'm calling the police," she could see his temper rising and wanted him out before he did anything else.

"They're my kids!"

"We'll talk about that later," she held open the door, "Right now, this is my house and I want you gone."

"I'll be back, Sarah," he said as he walked out the door, "You know I will."

"Unfortunately I do," she muttered to herself as she closed and locked the door behind her. She leaned against it and slid down to floor where she broke down into tears.

* * *

Harm jumped up from the couch when he heard a knock on his door. He set aside the file he was reading and went to the door expecting to find Mattie or Jen. When he swung it open, Harm was shocked to see Mac standing behind it with a duffel and diaper bag on one arm and a crying Talia in the other, while Nat hugged her leg. 

"Can we come in?"

* * *

A/N: I know, terrible place to leave it, but I'm really going to try and get one more chapter in before I have to leave…but prepare yourselves for a cliffie if I cannot. As always, please review and let me know what you think! 

Shalimar – Hehehe…thanks!

Toplesslemon – Thanks for the complements, and don't worry I don't in any way blame Australia for Mic's ickiness…that's his own fault! And membership to the anti-barney club is free…welcome!

Nix707 – Don't you hate it when your computer conspires against you? Gah! Believe me when I say that Harm will not take the Mic situation lightly. While neither of them are ready to admit it, Mac's his girl and he won't let anything happen to her! I wonder how much it would cost to rent a double decker bus?

XLovexNxPainx – As Mac said, you couldn't have her kids calling him "Comannder"… grin

Kiki – I'm glad your addicted:o)

JamieAKAaclassyone – Oh the custody issue will be a messy one, but a certain Commander may just help Mac out some off the record "encouragment" to get Brumby to walk away. Thanks for the good luck wishes for school. It's my second year, so I'm really excited…although I'm not that packed…I think the senioritis is coming in early. ;o)

KittyX – Was this soon enough? Hehehe!

Southernqt – I thought I recognized the name! I will be getting back to Field for the sequel eventually, but I wanted to get this one done first. As you know, I can be a bit unpredictable with the updates when life gets in the way, so I don't want to leave two things unfinished. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Okay, this will definitely be the last one for the next week or so. It's a little shorter than the last couple, but I did not want to leave you all hanging while the chaos of packing and moving into school set in. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

"Yeah," Harm ushered them in grabbing the duffel and diaper bags from her, "What's going on?"

"Can we stay here tonight?"

"Of course," he carried the bags into the bedroom and she followed, grateful that he didn't ask any questions. He saw her split lip and his stomach fell. He had been hoping that Mac left him for cheating on her, but apparently that was not the case. He watched Mac tryto untangle another bag from her shoulder without upsetting Talia any more and stepped in, "Let me."

"Thanks."

"What is this?" Harm looked down at what he had taken off her shoulder.

"Portable crib," she began doing the bounce and walk with Talia, while whispering soothing words.

"Do you want me to set it up?"

"Nah, I got it," she looked around to see that Nat did not follow them into the bedroom, "Would you go find Nat and sit with him?"

"Sure thing," he gave her a reassuring smile before leaving to get Nat. He found the little boy standing like he was waiting for someone to return for him, "Hey Buddy."

"Hi," Nat said softly and held up something for Harm to take.

"What is this?" Harm took what he saw to be the broken F-14 he had given Nat the week before.

"It broke."

"How?"

"It just did," he answered with the same look in his eyes that Mac would always get when she talked about her childhood, "You fix?"

"I'll fix it tomorrow," Harm led him over to the couch, "Let's go sit down."

"Okay," he sat down and pulled his _Thomas the Tank Engine_ backpack onto his lap.

"What do you have in there?"

"Books," he pulled out a _Winnie the Pooh _book, "You wanna read?"

"First, let's put on your pj's," Harm spotted a set of them in the bag and figured Mac would want him changed before a bedtime story.

"Okaay," he said with a slight smile.

* * *

"That's my girl," Mac whispered as Talia finally settled down in her arms. Peeking around the edge of the room, Mac saw Harm helping Nat into his pajamas and smiled. Thank God for Harm and his willingness to accept houseguests after 11 pm. This night had been disastrous enough without her having to check into a hotel room with two toddlers. Breaking away from watching Harm, she turned back to Talia, "Let's get your bed set up so you can get to bed, huh?"

* * *

Quietly setting the book aside, Harm stood up taking the sleeping Nat with him.

"Mummy?" Nat mumbled his eyes blinking open.

"It's Uncle Harm," he smiled down at him.

"Where's Mummy?" he asked sleepily.

"Right here," Mac walked in and took Nat from Harm when he reached for her, "Hey, Mr. Nat, was Uncle Harm reading you a story?"

"Yeah," he nodded sleepily into her shoulder.

"Are you ready for bed now?" she asked and he nodded again.

"You can put him in my bed," Harm offered.

"That's very nice of you, but we'll be fine on the couch."

"I insist," he argued, "I will not have your toddler sleeping on the couch."

"He's a toddler," she argued, "He'd be happy sleeping on a pile of blankets."

"Take the bed," he led them towards his room.

"Fine," she relented walking with Nat to the side of the bed, "You're going to sleep in Uncle Harm's bed tonight. Won't that be fun?"

"Uh-huh," he mumbled as she tucked him in, "Will you sleep with me?"

"Yes, in a little bit," she brushed a stray hair from his forehead, "I'm going to have grown up talk with Uncle Harm first, okay?"

"M'kay," he began to drift off, "Love you."

"Love you too, baby boy," she kissed his forehead, "Sweet dreams."

She sat with him until his breathing evened out and he was fast asleep. After checking on Talia, who was also sleeping soundly, Mac left the bedroom in search of Harm. She did not have to look long because she found him waiting for her in the kitchen, "Hey."

"Hey yourself," he gave a half-smile, "You want anything? Water, tea, icepack?"

"Is it that bad?" she checked her reflection in his microwave.

"Nah," he held up a wet rag, "Do you mind?"

"No," her breath hitched slightly when he touched the warm material to her lip to wipe away some dried blood.

"Much better," he rinsed it in the sink and grabbed an icepack from the freezer, "But you should still put some ice on it. You know, to reduce swelling."

"Thanks," she took the icepack then walked over to his couch and sat down.

"It was Mic, wasn't it?" he sat down opposite of her.

"How did you know?"

"Nat."

"Did he tell you?" she looked concerned.

"No, I could just tell."

"Oh God," she whispered, the last thing Mac wanted was one of her son's earliest memories to be of his dad hitting his mom. There was almost a minute of silence before she spoke again, "He's never hit me in front of Nat before."

"So he's hit you before?" he asked and she nodded without looking at him, "When did it start?"

"When Nat was one."

"And you stayed with him that long?" he could not keep the shock from his voice.

"It's not like you think, Harm," she said defensively, "He didn't do it that much."

"That much?" he questioned, "Do you hear yourself?"

"It only happened six time including tonight."

"It doesn't matter how many times that he did it, Mac," he said gently, realizing that he was putting her on the defensive, "He never should have touched you."

"I know," she sighed looking up at the ceiling, "There's just so much more you don't understand."

"Try me."

"We'll be up all night."

"I'll make coffee."

* * *

* * *

Mxfan214 – Thanks…my mother may kill me for all the computer time I'm hogging, but I'll be at school in a week with my very own computer! grin 

Nix707 – I'm a bum aren't I? And I'm kind of doing it again…sorry. Anyway, the whole time I was writing the previous chapter I kept debating having her pick up the phone, but I didn't want to bring on the Harm/Mic confrontation too soon…I have to draw it out. Besides, it'll take Harm a while to get that fleet organized, so Mac has to tell him everything first so he process it all and get a good plan…hehehe!

Jaggurl – Muahahaha! That's me! evil grin 

Shalimar – Thanks a bunch!

Abigaile – I'm a stinker, ain't I?

Manda – I'm glad you like "my" Harm and Mac…it's hard trying to think about what they'd be like if they were separated for 3 years.

Radiorox – I'm sneaky…hehehe! Anyway, I got the same vibe from Mic. On the show he was never an intrinsically bad person or anything, but he had a major potential for sketchiness.

Toplesslemon – Hehehe…thanks any anti-barney effort is always appreciated. P.S. I love your name!

KittyX – I hope this will tide you over.

XLovexNxPainx – LOL…you're so crazy…but I like crazy so it's all good!

Cool cat – Thanks a bunch!


	12. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I am officially done with the move-in process and had a wonderful time on my orientation retreat. It's great to be back at school, even if it means a chaotic schedule, but I promise to complete this before the chaos of classes set in next week. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

"I don't know where to start," Mac said when Harm handed her mug of coffee.

"How about the beginning?"

"You mean the honeymoon?" she smirked.

"I was thinking more along the lines of when you moved to Australia," he laughed.

"I went because his mother was sick, and then Mic asked me to stay," she began with what he already knew, "At first I refused on the basis that we had a life and friends in D.C. Not to mention my career, but Mic made a compelling argument. I knew how unhappy he was here. He missed his country and the navy. Every time I put on my uniform I could sense his resentment."

"He gave those things up on his own, Mac," Harm broke in, "You didn't force him to leave it all behind."

"Yes, I did," she corrected, "Not directly, but it was me and it wasn't fair to him, especially since I got pregnant."

"So that was your plan, to leave the Corps and become a housewife the minute you became pregnant?" Harm asked in a voice a little harsher than he would have liked it to be, but he couldn't help it after hearing how she easily blamed herself the situation.

"I don't know, maybe," she answered quickly, "I never really had time to make a plan. Nat just happened."

"He wasn't planned?" he had always assumed that Mac had planned to get pregnant right away because of the baby deal.

"With our baby deal you'd think I would have just jumped at the idea of motherhood, right?" she raised an eyebrow, "I love Nat, but I had wanted to give the marriage a year to make sure that it was stable before I brought a child into it. I don't know how it happened. I was on the pill, but somehow I still got pregnant. My doctor told me that I must have missed a dose, but I know I didn't. It was either the .05 chance of failure or Mic."

"Mic?"

"When things first got bad, the one thing that kept me going was my son. If it wasn't for him and later Talia…" she trailed off then switched gears, "Mic knew that I wanted my kids to have a stable childhood more than anything, and that gave him power. I never had any proof but I think that he may have messed with the birth control. I know it sounds paranoid, but I don't know," she eyed Harm over her mug, "You think I'm crazy."

"I don't. You know him better than I do," he felt them lapse into another silence and wanted to make sure she kept talking, so he thought back to his conversation with Chloe, "Chloe said that your house in Australia was beautiful. Who found it, you or Mic?"

"He surprised me with it when I was six months pregnant with Nat. It was right on the beach and was surrounded by gardens. More importantly each room had tons of windows, so you never felt closed in," she said with a smile, "I immediately fell in love with the place and did not even think about the downside."

"Downside?"

"I took fifteen minutes to get to the nearest neighbors, but even that was nice at times. We lived in our own little world. While I was pregnant, I split my time between decorating our house and researching cases for Mic. When I wasn't busy with that I was with Mic, so I never really made any friends there. After Nat was born, Mic didn't like me driving the baby because I wasn't used to Australian roads, so I spent the days at home until Mic got off work. Since there were no nearby neighbors, it became all about my baby," she sighed, "It's not as pathetic as it all sounds. I was happy, really I was. I just never realized how isolated he made me. Other then when I was running errands, the only person I had constant contact with was Mic."

"You think that was Mic's plan?" Harm asked suspecting that it was.

"At first I figured that it was just my paranoia," she shook her head, "I figured that I was seeing things because I wanted them to be there. Until I had proof, I tried to believe that it was just a series of coincidences."

"But you found proof?"

"Yeah," she set down her coffee, "You know how I stopped e-mailing you? Well, I stopped because I got no response from you or anyone else for that matter. Mic diverted the e-mails from my inbox and intercepted anything that I tried to send. He blocked all incoming international calls too, with the exception of Chloe. He knew that if she stopping calling, I would be suspicious and I would have been. He wanted to think that everyone else had forgotten me and moved on with their lives. I believed him and I cannot believe how stupid I was."

"You were not stupid, Mac," he told her firmly, "Mic manipulated you. None of it was your fault."

"Right," she said unconvincingly, "Anyway, a couple of months ago I found proof of what he'd done. That's when I seriously began making plans to leave Australia. I had done the research on international custody on everything earlier, but I never done anything concrete."

Harm sat silently taking in what she had told him. He never would thought that Mic would go to the extremes that he did to cut off Mac from her previous life. It was mind boggling for him, because while he never liked Mic, Harm had never truly despised the man. It was hard enough for him to control his rage when he saw Mac's split lip, but when Harm heard her repeatedly blame herself for what Mic had done, he wanted to kill the man. His thoughts were interrupted when Mac stood up to leave the room, "Where are you going?"

"Talia's awake and I want to get her before she wakes up Nat," she continued walking and he followed her into the bedroom, where they found Talia sitting up and staring at them with her wide blue eyes.

"That's some maternal instinct," he marveled as Mac carried her daughter out of the bedroom.

"She's been waking up at exactly this time ever since we got here," she began getting a bottle ready, "I think it's the time change."

"Why don't I feed her?" he offered noticing that she was still fully dressed while he was in pajamas, "You can take a few minutes to change out of your clothes."

"You sure you can handle it?" she asked with a grin.

"We'll manage," he took Talia into his arms and then the bottle, "Won't we, sweetie."

* * *

"How did you get to be so good with babies?" Mac asked twenty-five minutes later when Talia was once again fast asleep. They had returned to the couches where Harm had put fresh cups of coffee. Dressed in an old t-shirt and shorts, she felt much more relaxed, although she was not looking forward to the rest of their conversation. In fact she was doing anything she could to delay the conversation.

"Harriet," Harm smiled, "After Jimmy was born she refused to let me remain incompetent around children."

"You were never incompetent with little A.J."

"Would you have let me baby sit one of your kids back then?"

"Well, no," she admitted with a smirk.

"So."

"So."

"Tell me about when it first happened," he ordered gently, not allowing her to skirt the issue.

"We had this party for Nat's first birthday," she began looking down at her hands, "Mic's extended family came and the Brumby men are known for drinking too much. Anyway, Mic's cousin Ian made this joking comment that Nat didn't look anything like Mic. Ian meant that he inherited his good looks from me, but Mic took it to mean that Ian didn't think he was the father. We laughed it off, but after the party he accused me of having had an affair."

"With whom?"

"You," she looked up briefly and returned to studying her hands, "I told him that we were just friends and that we never – but he didn't believe me. He took a swing at me and I was able to duck it, but he slammed me against the wall. When he let me go, I told him to get out and ran upstairs. I spent the night locked in my bedroom with Nat, and in the morning he was gone. There was an apology note and an address for his hotel. I hurled the note against the wall and got online to book flights back to D.C."

"Why didn't you leave?"

"I couldn't find our passports. Mic had put them in a safe deposit box and I didn't know how to find the key. I also didn't think that anyone in D.C. would be willing to take us in, so I gave up on that idea. Two weeks later I agreed to meet Mic for lunch to discuss a divorce, but we never really got to that," she took a shaky breath, "I missed him and after we set some conditions I let him come home. It was stupid, but for some ungodly reason I still loved him and wanted him back.

"Anyway" she continued, "He came home and we had four good months. Then one night her came home drunk and slapped me awake because I did not wait up for him. After that it was three good months. He didn't hit me that time, but he twisted my wrist so hard that he broke it. At the hospital, I was the one who made up the story. It makes me sick to think about that," she clenched her jaw, "It was then that we found out I was pregnant again. He didn't touch me while I was pregnant, but he hit me twice between the time she was born and when I left. I was having post-partum issues, so things were tense. I was difficult to be around."

"Don't say that," he gently took her hands in his.

"It's true," she met his eyes.

"Mac," he looked into her eyes that were trying to hold back the tears, "You know it's not."

"Let me finish, please," she pleaded her voice wavering.

"Okay."

"Thanks," she took a steadying breath, "I thought about leaving a lot, but I knew filing for divorce would take me away from them. I had no proof that Mic had done anything and I knew that the courts would see him as the better parent. After all, he had the job, the house, extended family, and friends in Australia, whereas I had nothing. I knew that I would need to have a job and a stable home if I wanted full custody, so I had to wait until I would be able to establish all that without Mic's knowledge."

"But now he knows," he concluded.

"He found the papers yesterday and showed up during dinner," her eyes drifted to Nat's broken plane, "I put Talia to bed, and when I came back downstairs Mic was interrogated Nat about his plane. Nat told him that you had given it to him, and Mic refused to give it back. When I reached to take it from him, he hit me and smashed it against the wall," she looked back at him, "Will you be able to fix it?"

"Yeah," Harm moved to sit next to her, "I will."

"Not just the plane, Harm, I mean everything," she whispered as her tears began to fall, "I screwed up everything."

"No you didn't," he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his shoulder, "We'll figure out everything together."

* * *

JamieAKAaclassyone – Yes, Harm is the picture of calmness around Mac because he's a good friend, but he will not be anywhere near composed when he first runs into Mic. And I know what you mean about classes, I want to take things that don't relate to me major…ah!

Nix707 – Thanks again for the complements, they mean a lot. And I love Nat and Talia too, I keep turning them into my ideal future children, they're more or less well-behaved and just seem to love everyone. Of course few real kids can behave that perfectly, but I can pretend. Oh yeah, the explosives are definitely mounting for the Harm/Mic confrontation.

Shalimar2 – Ooo! I got an "as usual"…I feel special! Hehehe!

Duchovny0901 – Thanks for letting me know you're reading and your thoughts. I really appreciate feedback on how I'm writing Mac. I have limited experience in the area of battered women and considering I'm a single college student, I have know even less about being a mother, so it's good to hear that I'm doing a decent job. Thanks again!

Radiorox – I know exactly which episode you're talking about because that's actually the one that got me started on this story idea. I don't know what it was called either, but Mic manipulates Mac until she apologizes for being insecure when he's at fault. I'm working on the non-sneaky thing and I'm glad you're able to see past the rugrats and keep reading this!

Bite Beccy – That's me, Miss Meanie…hehehe!

Manda – I'm glad I'm keeping you happy.

xLovexNxPainx – I think you'll have to get in line behind a few others before you can get to Mic. Not only his a jerk, but he made Nat sad and I just won't stand for that.

Cmdrchasenovack – Thanks, I didn't think Harm would jump at her questions, especially since she shows up with crying kids. I think he would have gotten the kids settled and happy, and then made sure Mac was okay too. Only then would he start asking questions, so I wrote it that way.

Macandharmlover – Oh yeah, there's no way Mic will just jump on a plane back to Australia.

Pain – Sorry…but I'm just evil sometimes..muahaha!

KittyX – You're welcome! ;o)

Southernqt – Your wish is my command and thanks!

Sammy – Thanks, I don't want the kids to be the center of the story, but they are definitely part of the woman Mac has become and if she and Harm are going to have a future together it will include those guys.

Toplesslemon – Are you implying that any Harm/Mac progress is bound to result in something idiotic screwing it up? Right now Harm's focused on taking care of Mac, so things are safe.

Dess – I know what you mean, he just seemed borderline sketchy. He always seemed to be guilt-tripping her into doing things, and I feel like that would have led to a rather icky marriage. She deserves to have someone she loves (cough, Harm, cough), not someone she's manipulated into caring for.

Anita – Thanks for the review and the well wishes for school!

Tina Frank – I know exactly what you mean on the temper and the manipulation. The way I see it, Mic legitimately loves Mac, but he's jealous and controlling. He's also very smart and while Mac is tough, she's not immune to manipulation, especially when it comes to men. Also, I hated on the show how they just had Chloe disappear, I won't let that happen!

DushiNoSushi – Glad to have you reading and thanks for the review! The whole idea of Mac being caught in an abusive situation like with her parents has always intrigued me. I don't think she would let herself fall into the exact same situation as her mother, with constant physical abuse. Mic is supposed to be a decent guy, who occasionally lapses into physical abuse, which Mac recognizes. What she doesn't see is the mental/emotional abuse he inflicted. And Mac would never leave her kids under any circumstances.

Mac 4 – Thanks and don't worry, Mic has something up his sleeve.

Starryeyes10 – Thanks!


	13. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Okay, I'm working on this as fast as I can, because I got a look at one of my syllabi for next year and I've got to get this done before that sets in. Also, I know this is kind of short, but I find myself better able to post in a timely fashion if I have feedback. Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

The following morning Mac opened her eyes to find a matching pair of brown eyes staring at her, "Morning Mr. Man."

"Morning Mummy," Nat smiled back.

"Is your sister awake?" she asked and he nodded.

"I gave her Karoo," he added, referring to the pink stuffed kangaroo that Talia loved. He jumped off the bed and raced from the room.

"Where are you going?" Mac asked but got no response.

"Unca Harm," she heard him say as he bounced into the kitchen, "Mummy's awake!"

"Thanks, Buddy," he walked into the bedroom with Nat, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Mac smiled as Nat bounced onto the bed, "What time do you have to leave for work?"

"About an hour," he answered already in his uniform, "What about you?"

"I'm going to call in sick," she stood up and began getting clothes out for each of her kids.

"Good idea. You can stay here until I get back from work."

"Harm, we're not going to be permanent house guests."

"You will be until we figure out everything," he held out his hands, "Now give me Nat's clothes and we'll let you ladies get ready."

"See you later, Mummy," Nat scampered across the bed to give her a kiss on the cheek and followed Harm out of the room.

"Bye," Mac smirked and walked over to Talia who was happily bouncing Karoo through the rough terrain of her crib, "Mummy's going to jump in the shower, but I'll be right back, okay?"

After a quick shower, Mac dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple blue t-shirt. With her wet hair tied back and make-up on, no one would be able to guess the events of the previous night. Dressing Talia in purple overalls and a light blue t-shirt, Mac smiled at the sounds of Nat and Harm making breakfast together. She looked down at her daughter, "Let's go see what the boys are up to, huh?"

"We're making pancakes," Nat announced from his seat on the counter the minute they entered the kitchen.

"It smells good," Mac couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Nat with batter all over his hands and Harm in his uniform trying to keep both that and his kitchen clean. Shifting Talia to her hip, she grabbed a washcloth from the sink, "But I think you've helped enough. You have to be clean before you can eat."

"Okay," he sighed dramatically as she wiped his hands.

"There," Mac offered him her free arm, "Hop on."

"Thank you," Nat smiled as she set him down on the ground.

"You're welcome. Now go sit at the table like a big boy, Mr. Man."

"That was impressive," Harm commented on her juggling of two children.

"Not as impressive as you getting Nat to keep is clothes clean," she smiled.

"I have a gift," he flopped some pancakes onto a plate, "What can I say?"

"You're too good to be true," she quickly took the plate of food to her son before Harm could read any more into what she said. Mac busied herself in getting Nat's food cut and preparing breakfast for Talia and was surprised when the door opened.

"Good morning," Mattie breezed in and sat down at the counter. Mac shot Harm a concerned look, but before he could respond Mattie continued, "Harm told me about your plumbing problem, what a bummer."

"Yeah, thank goodness for friends," she shared a relieved and grateful smile with Harm. It was not that she wanted to lie to Mattie, she just did not want to get into everything with anyone else. The breakfast went by quickly, and after helping with the dishes Mattie returned to her apartment to get ready for school. Mac popped a video into the VCR to distract Nat and Talia while she talked to Harm, "I can finish the kitchen, so you can get ready."

"I am ready," he smiled and continued cleaning the griddle.

"Don't you have cases to review or something?" she took a towel to dry and he shook his head no, "So you don't have court today?"

"No, I do."

"But you don't prep the case," she smirked, "No wonder I could beat you in court so easily."

"Funny," Harm smiled back, "What are your plans for today?"

"Sit around and play with my kids."

"No leaving?"

"None."

"I mean it, Ninja Girl," he broke out his old nickname for her, "Until we know where Mic is you need to stay safe."

"I know and I will," she paused to look at her children and asked softly, "You don't think he'll come here, do you?"

"If he believes that we're having an affair, then he may show up her," he confirmed her fears, "You could come to JAG with me, if you'd like."

"Like I want to explain this to everyone?" she snorted, "We'll be fine here."

"And if he shows up?"

"If I see his rental car, we'll go to Mattie's apartment," she spotted a set of keys with a flower keychain hanging on the wall, "These are the keys, right?"

"Yes," he paused as she slipped them into her pocket, "Just be careful."

"I will, don't worry," she hugged him impulsively and then joined her children on the floor in front of the television.

* * *

A few hours later Mac sat by the window watching Nat and Talia play and keeping a vigilant eye on the parking lot in case Mic's car showed up. At this point, even she was beginning to feel that the vigil was paranoid but she refused to give it up. On her next switch from kid-watch to Mic-watch, she gasped when she saw Mic get out of the car. He spotted her in the window before she ducked behind the curtains. 

"What's wrong?" Nat immediately sensed his mother's panic.

"Grab a couple toys, we're going to Mattie's," Mac told him as calmly as she could. She scooped up Talia plus diaper bag, grabbed Nat's hand, and headed into the hallway. She passed the elevator and hit the button, hoping that calling the elevator to this floor before Mic hit the button on the first floor would cause a brief delay. They got into Mattie's apartment, and she set Talia and the bag on a clear space on the floor, "Mr. Nat this is very important, so I want you to listen carefully, okay?"

"Okay," he answered solemnly.

"You have to stay in here with your sister until I come back," she crouched down, "Do not open the door for anyone but me or your Uncle Harm."

"Okay."

"Good boy," she kept her gaze locked with her son's, "And if I'm not back in 30 minutes I want you to pick up the phone and call 9-1-1. You got that? 30 minutes."

"Thirty," he repeated, "I love you Mummy."

"I love you too," she kissed his head, then Talia's, "I love you too, Angel. Now, lock the door behind me."

"I will," he promised with the maturity of a child much older than his age.

After checking to make sure the door was locked, Mac returned to Harm's apartment where she immediately picked up the phone and dialed Harm's cell phone. Since he was in court all she could get was a voicemail, "Harm, he's here and saw me in the window from the parking lot. Please come help."

"Sarah!" Mic's voice and a banging on the door cut her message short, "I know you're in there."

Hesitantly, she walked to the door and decided to open it. Mac knew she should keep him outside, but his voice was loud and she was concerned that Nat would hear it and open the door. There was no way she could risk Nat seeing Mic like this, so she took a deep breath and let him into Harm's apartment.

* * *

The minute court went into recess, Harm pulled out his cell phone to check for messages. His stomach dropped when he listened to the voicemail from Mac. Harm told Bud that there was an emergency and that he would have to sit first chair for the rest of the afternoon. When Bud asked what was wrong, Harm answered Mac, and even though he did not know the details, Bud knew that there had to be a good reason for Harm to leave and went to tell the admiral. 

As he left the courtroom, Harm called the apartment and got no answer. He switched to the number for Mattie and Jen's, praying that they were all safe in there. When the machine picked up, he groaned but tried a message, "Mac? Are you there? If you are pick up! Nat are you there? It's Uncle Harm. If you're there, pick up the phone."

"Unca Harm," Nat's soft voice filtered over the phone.

"Nat, are you okay?" Harm fumbled with his keys as he unlocked his car.

"Yeah, but I'm scared," he paused, "So is Talia."

"Is your mom with you?" he started the car and left the parking lot in the direction of Union Station.

"No. She told me to call 9-1-1 if she didn't come back in 30 minutes."

"How long has she been gone?"

"19 minutes," he answered easily and for a moment Harm was distracted by the little boy's amazing sense of timing, "Where's Mummy."

"She's just busy," Harm lied, "But don't worry, Buddy, I'm going to come get you and your sister."

"Okay."

"Now you just stay with Talia and I'll be right there," Harm assured him. After he hung up with Nat, he drove with renewed haste towards his apartment.

* * *

A/N: Another cliffie ducks behind her desk but I just had to put it in there…it wrote itself… 

Shalimar2 – Thanks…hehehe!

Macandharmlover – Thanks, I'm glad you're hooked. It makes me feel powerful…muahhaha!

Bite Beccy – Yeah, I know that the last one was sad, and unfortunately this one isn't really uplifting either.

Abigaile – Of course Harm will figure everything out, he's superman…of course it may take some time…

Manda – I love Hero Harm too…even if it is cliché to have him play knight in shining armor…he's just so good at it.

Jaggurl – Thanks, it's great to be back!

Sammy – Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him…eventually…

Radiorox – Nah, you're not a nerd. If you hadn't found it I know I was going to look it up!

TV Angel 711 – Don't worry, that's the long-term plan

KittyX – It's coming, but don't get too excited because I don't want to disappoint ya.

Nix 707 – Don't worry about the length of reviews, I'm just glad to hear from you. Hopefully your soccer went well and that you're now well-rested!

Cmdrchasenovack – Thanks!

xLovexNxPainx – Of course he will!

JamieAKAaclassyone – Ugh! I hated Mic's manipulation…he was always all about making Mac feel guilty and was playing off her emotions. As for my "copies"…that's what happens when I get overtired on the proofreading! Hehehe!

Cbw – Welcome and thanks for taking the time to catch up!

Southernqt – I got the same image of Harm and Talia, but I wasn't sure how to write it so I decided to hope that the reader just came up with it on their own. Luckily you did!

And anyone I may have missed (I'm still adjusting to the home-to-college computer switch) thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: T-minus 33 hours until classes start and I'm beginning to feel like Dory from _Finding Nemo_: "Just keep typing, just keep typing…" Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

Mac groaned, or at least thought she groaned but no sound actually came out. She was floating, no not floating, but was in a haze. Struggling, she tried to think last thing she remembered. Through the fog she went back to the panic she felt in Harm's apartment as she listened to Mic's angry voice outside the door. When she cracked the door open, he pushed through with enough force to send her stumbling into the couch.

She remembered regaining her balance, but then it kind of faded in and out. They argued loudly. He accused her of having an affair, but she denied it. He demanded to see the kids, but she refused. That's when he swung his fist at her, but she ducked out of the way and managed to hit him with a right hook square in the face. This was their first all out fight and the first time she had ever hit him back. For a moment he was surprised, but before Mac could hit him again Mic swung again and connected with her chin.

Racking her brain, she tried to figure out what happened after that. Mic was a former boxer and had the physical strength to overpower her, but she was a Marine and one punch should not know her out. Then she remembered stepping back and hitting Karoo. The stuffed toy was just enough to throw her off balance, causing her to fall and hit her head on the sharp corner of the coffee table. Oddly enough, she took great pride in the fact that it was not Mic who knocked her out, but a table.

As she contemplated how ridiculous that was, Mac realized how ridiculous her current situation was. She was wrapped up in a haze having a virtual conversation with herself. Then it hit her, Nat and Talia. She left them in Mattie's apartment. Did Mic find them? Desperately she tried to break away from the haze, but it held her fast. With each second, her panic grew and she felt as if she were falling deeper and deeper into the haze.

* * *

Harm sat by Mac's bedside willing her to wake up. He'd been doing it for the past almost five hours and Mac had yet to stir. She was rushed to the emergency room, and the doctors immediately ran a battery of tests including a CT and a MRI, which showed swelling around Mac's brain from the blow to the head. The doctors were confident that the swelling would go down on its own, as long as she woke up in the next eight hours. If she did not, then they would have to do it surgically or else risk her slipping into a coma. 

Five hours. That was all that stood between Mac and surgery. Fifteen minutes. If court had recessed that much earlier he may have been able to prevent all this. It was almost ironic how Mac, with her amazing sense of timing, was now lying in the ICU all because of timing. As he sat there watching her breath, Harm thought back to when he found her.

_He climbed the stairs two at a time, too impatient to wait for the elevator. When he reached his floor he headed straight for his apartment, knowing that Nat and Talia would be fine for the moment at Mattie's. The door was cracked open and he quickly went inside to find the apartment silent and seemingly empty. He scanned the place finding no movement in the bedroom, but spotted a well manicured hand sticking out from behind the couch._

_"Mac, come on, wake up," he raced over to her unmoving form quickly assessing her injuries. At first he saw nothing, but then he noticed the small pool of blood next to her head. He checked her vitals and was relieved to find them strong. Knowing that an ambulance was on its way, Harm stood up to check on the kids, "Help is coming, hang in there."_

_Using his key, Harm entered Mattie's apartment to find Nat desperately trying to stop his little sister from crying. Seeing his uncle, Nat immediately raced into his arms and was enveloped into a hug, "Hey buddy."_

_"Where's Mummy?" he asked immediately instead of a greeting._

_"Um, she's feeling a little sick, so she sent me to check on you and Talia," Harm lied picking up the crying Talia._

_"I want to see her."_

_"You can't right now, okay," Harm told him and heard the sirens of an ambulance over the baby's cries. Through the window he watched the ambulance pull into the parking lot, "Okay, Nat–"_

_When he turned away from the window, he was surprised to find the little boy gone. Harm instantly knew that Nat had gone looking for his mother and raced off to his apartment, hoping to find Nat before he found his mother. Stepping into his apartment, he knew he was not fast enough._

_"Mummy?"__ Nat whispered crawling next to Mac, "Mummy, wake up! Mummy it's me, wake up!" he noticed Harm walk in and asked in a terrified voice, "Unca Harm why won't Mummy wake up?"_

_"She's just sleeping," he beckoned for Nat to come to him, "Come here buddy."_

_"No!" he shouted and turned his attention back to his mother, "Mummy, please wake up. Talia's crying. Wake up!"_

_"Come here," Harm bent over to pick him up._

_"No! I want to stay with Mummy!" Nat cried as Harm pried him away._

_"It's okay, Nat. It's going to be okay," Harm said calmly trying to soothe the screaming children while trying to keep it together himself. _

Harm was awoken from his reverie by the sound of the monitors next to Mac's bed beeping. Two nurses rushed in with a doctor and immediately began discussing her sudden erratic vitals. Stepping back to let the doctors work, Harm leaned against the wall and began to pray, "Come on Mac, stay with us. Your kids need you. I need you."

* * *

The thought of her kids alone without her terrified Mac, and she could feel her terror consuming her. She left her kids in Mattie's apartment and now she had no idea where they were. It was her fault. She never should have left them and gone back to Harm's apartment. Harm. She remembered calling him before Mic showed up, and she knew that Harm was with her kids. He promised to protect her and them. They had to be okay, because Harm was with them. 

As if it was the antidote to a poison, the thought of Harm immediately pulled her from the panic that was enveloping and she found herself returning to that comfortable haze. But this time, Mac refused to stop in the haze and pushed through it. _Come on Marine_, she thought to herself and she slowly felt her senses return. The first thing she felt was a stabbing pain in her head, but she kept going. Slowly but surely she managed to blink her eyes open.

"Mac," Harm immediately rushed to her side pushing past the nurses. Seconds before he had been relieved to see her vitals stabilize, but now that she opened her eyes he was overjoyed.

"Nat?" she whispered, "Talia?"

"They're both fine," he gave her hand a squeeze, "They're with Harriet and Bud."

"Good," she said her voice already sounding stronger.

"You gave us quite the scare, Mrs. Brumby," the doctor said, using the name he got from her insurance cards.

"Mac, please," she corrected quickly and tried to sit up.

"Hold on, let me check some things first," the doctor did a brief examination and then raised the bed to a sitting position, "Looks good."

"I want to see my kids," she turned to Harm, "Bring them to me."

"I'll call Harriet and tell her to bring them to the Hospital," he answered

"They're not here?"

"It's been over five hours. They needed to eat and rest," he explained, hoping that both of them were actually doing that. Harriet was able to calm them down considerably, but they were still pretty agitated when they left the hospital.

"Oh," she checked her internal clock and realized that he was right. Is now 5:18 and Mic had shown up at 11:30, "Call her."

"I will."

"I hate to be the bad guy," the doctor broke in, "But I can't allow you to bring children into the ICU."

"Either you bend the rules or I will leave here AMA," Mac said firmly, "Either way, I am seeing my children tonight."

"How soon can she be moved from ICU?" Harm asked, trying to find a compromise that would prevent Mac from attacking the doctor.

"If her CT comes back clear I can get her in a regular room in an hour," the doctor answered, "I don't want to keep you from your children, but I have to follow hospital policy."

"Fine," Mac sighed.

"Good," he smiled, "I'm going to go set this up and we'll move you down to radiology in a minute."

"I'm going to go call Harriet," Harm squeezed her hand one more time.

"Thank you," she gave him a grateful smile and could tell he understood all that she was thanking him for.

"You're welcome," he tossed her the flyboy grin she missed so much when she was in Australia.

"Harm," she stopped him in the doorway, "Where's Mic?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly and she gave a slight nod in response. What Harm did know was that Brumby was a dead man.

* * *

A/N: So that's night quite as bad of a cliffie, so can I come out now? 

Nix707 – I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you either and I love that you think I'm honored that you think I'm brilliant, because after catching up on Full Throttle I think the same of you. Anyway, the way I say it Mac's making progress in terms of asking for help. Last time she wouldn't even call Harm and this time she left him a voicemail. I like to see that as growth that may one day lead to trust and admitting her gasp feelings. I know…scary thought. Hmm…I don't know which I want you to update. How about both, please? (Will it work if I'm polite too?)

Shalimar2 – Muahaha! But it's so easy to be evil!

JamieAKAaclassyone – Oh, Harm's connection with the kids will definitely be important because they're the center of Mac's world. And don't think that him being unable to stop Nat and Talia from crying is some foreshadowing about his future relationship with Mac…because I would not stand for that!

Janlaw – As I've been writing this I've been trying to rationalize why Mac hasn't contacted the police and I've managed to come up with a semi-cohesive reason. Based on my knowledge of international custody cases, if Mac got a restraining order and Mic contested it would go to court. Mac's trying to keep the divorce out of court because it would have to be tried in Australia's courts and could mean separation from her children, which she will not stand for. Does that make any sense? I'm trying to work some of this rationale into the story itself but I'm having a hard time, so instead I just leave long rambling review replies.

Major Passion – Thanks! Saving face is definitely a concern for Mac, which is why she's been so hesitant to tell anyone outside of Harm. In my world, she feels guilty for falling into the same position as her mother. And remember, Mic didn't knock her out, the table did.

VeroChan – I know what you mean, there's a difference between a chauvinistic hero and the happy Harm heroness. (How do you like that alliteration?) Anyway, thanks for reading!

Macandharmlover – Yeah, Mac's definitely a little crazy, but her logic was that Nat may recognize his father's voice and walk into the hallway, which in her mind would be worse than anything Mic could do to her.

Cbw – Harm didn't get there in time and Mac didn't take Brumby out, but she did get in a good punch before the table (not Mic) had it's revenge. So maybe that kind of works?

TV Angel 711 – Mac wasn't too hurt, she's tough. Oh, and saying Brumby is no Harm is an understatement; he's not even in the same category. In this fic he's definitely now worthy of being the dirt on the bottom of Harm's show.

xLovexNxPainx – I couldn't resist having Nat inherit her gifts. Talia's got a bit of it too, how else does a 10 month old manage to wake up at precisely the same time every night?

Duchovny0901 – Thank, I love keeping readers on their toes…hehehe!

Sakura – I'm glad you like their names and nicknames. My mom used to do the "Mr." thing to my brother when he was little and whenever I babysit I do the same thing, so I couldn't resist putting it in here. I haven't had Mac refer to Talia as Tali-babe recently, but I'm going to have to bring that one back next chapter. Now to the real world, I'm happily starting my sophomore year at Vanderbilt University.

Anita – Whenever there's trouble, he's here on the double…it's Hero Harm!

Dansingwolf – I hope you had an excellent vacation and I'm glad you liked all the history with Mac/Brumby. Harm's attention has been focused completely on Mac and her feelings and he's basically been ignoring his own building rage against Brumby, but now that she's safe in the hospital Harm can get him.

MiDushiNoSushi – I only made you wait 24-hours, so you shouldn't be too upset…hehehe! And I could have left this one when her vitals became erratic, but I decided that would create a ridiculously short chapter and just be cruel.

Jaggurl – I can't help it…I just love them so much!

Southernt – Is it safe to come out? cautiously peeks around the corner The good thing is that Mac has finally hit the bottom in terms of the physical anguish Brumby can cause because Harm will not let anything else happen to her. Unfortunately, there's the emotional stuff to get through, but Harm can help with that too.

Pain – NO! Not the munchkins, anything but that! Hehehe! I'll be better from now on I promise. crossing her fingers behind her back in hopes that munchkins won't notice

Lehcar412 – Thanks, I'm glad you like it!


	15. Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing…

A/N: Okay, not quite as speedy as before and maybe a little shorter, but I'm working on it. Classes have started, which means I have work now, but it's not too bad, so I'll still keep up with this. Also, this chapter does have some "adult language" so anyone who may be offended should not read. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

"How is she?" Harriet asked the minute she got out of the minivan in the hospital parking lot.

"Better," he had been waiting for her to help her with the kids, "No Bud?"

"He's at home with my two," she answered, unhooking the carrier portion of the Jimmy's car seat, which Talia was using. Harm also noticed that Talia was borrowing some of Jimmy's clothes, because the little girl now wore a blue sleeper.

"Hey Nat," he released from the car seat and lifted him from the car. Harm could tell from Nat's red eyes that he had been crying a lot today, but was relieved to see him noticeably calmer than before.

"Hi," Nat whispered, wrapping his arms around Harm's neck, "We go see Mummy?"

"Yes."

"Good," he settled his head onto Harm's shoulder.

"How were they?" Harm asked Harriet.

"Scared and confused," she sighed, "After a bath and a bottle, I got Talia down for a nap, but Nat wouldn't go to sleep. He played with A.J. for a bit, but mostly he just followed Bud or me around the house."

"It was a rough day," he rubbed Nat's back, and looked down at Talia who was happily sucking on her pacifier as Harriet carried her.

"That's an understatement," Harriet mumbled, "Did you ever expect that he would do something like this?"

"Honestly, Harriet, no," he sighed, "I never really liked him, but I never expected this."

"Me neither," she shook her head, as they road the elevator up to Mac's floor, and then reached into her bag, "Oh, here's that information you asked Bud to find."

"Thanks," he took the sealed envelope with his free hand. When they got off the elevator, he carefully lowered Nat to the ground, "You're going to walk with Aunt Harriet now, okay?"

"Okay," he instinctively reached for Harriet's free hand and popped the thumb on his other hand in his mouth.

"Limited number of visitors at a time," he explained for Harriet's benefit, "I have an errand to run, but will you tell Mac I'll be back later tonight."

"Will do," Harriet said with a strong idea of where Harm was going. She looked down at Nat, "Come on, Nat, let's go see your Mummy."

* * *

Mac sat in the bed of her new hospital room, anxiously staring at the door. She had been out of the ICU for 4 minutes and 23 seconds and had yet to see anyone but hospital staff. She wanted to see her kids; she needed to see them. Instead she was lying there, staring at the ceiling. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Nat standing frozen in the doorway with Harriet behind him. Only when she turned her head to look at him did he come speeding towards the bed, as fast as his little legs could carry him. 

"Mummy!" he grinned and tried to climb onto the bed, "You're awake."

"Yes I am, Mr. Nat," Mac reached over to pick him up, but was restrained by her IV.

"I got it," Harriet set the carrier on the table and scooped Nat onto the bed. Nat quickly kissed her on the cheek, and Mac's heart broke when she saw his tired, red eyes.

"Thanks," she looked to the carrier, "Can you?"

"I'm on it," she walked over to Talia and then set her in her mother's arms, "There you go."

"Hey Tali-babe," Mac said to her daughter who smiled back, "Where you good for Aunt Harriet?"

"Yes she was," Harriet tickled her feet making her giggle, "We had a bottle, a bath, and a long nap."

"What about you, Mr. Man?" she looked down at her son, "Where you a good boy."

"Uh-huh," he nodded playing with Mac's hand.

"Was he?"

"Yes," Harriet paused and mouthed to Mac, _"No nap, no food."_

"Are you hungry?" Mac asked him and he shook his head, "Are you sleepy?" she got the same response without him looking at her, "Nat, look at me?"

"Does it hurt?" he looked up but his eyes focused on the bandage on her head.

"No sweetie, it doesn't," she lied.

"Why didn't you wake up?" he whispered, "Talia was crying and I asked you to, but you wouldn't wake up."

"Oh, honey," Mac held him close, trying to keep her own tears at bay, "I was just really tired and couldn't hear you. But I will never sleep like that again."

"Promise?" he asked staring at her with his big brown eyes.

"Promise," she looked him in the eye, "Is that why you didn't want to take your nap?"

"I didn't want to not wake up."

"Oh, baby," she held him close letting her tears fall into his curly hair, "That will never happen, okay? You don't have to be scared now. Mummy's here."

They sat like that for a few minutes, until Nat pulled back, "I'm hungry."

"I bet you are," she laughed wiping away her tears. She looked over to the tray of food a nurse had brought her. There wasn't anything really substantial, but it would be enough to tide him over until Harriet took him home and gave him real food, "You want some Jello."

"Yeah," his face lit up.

"Okay, you sit like this," Mac positioned him so he was sitting facing the edge of the bed, "And Aunt Harriet will bring the tray over to you, okay?"

"Here you go," Harriet slid it over and handed him a spoon.

"Thank you," Nat smiled, it was clear that just being around his mother made him feel better.

"Well that food looks appetizing," Harriet said as she returned to her chair by Mac.

"Oh I know," she rolled her eyes, "I'm on clear liquids for 24 hours so it's nothing but water, broth, and Jello."

"Do you want to eat too? I won't be offended."

"No, I'm not hungry," she sighed, "Nauseous."

"Sorry."

"No biggie," she shrugged, "Where's Harm?"

"He had to run an errand."

"Oh, okay."

"How are you?" Harriet asked, "Really?"

"To be perfectly honest I feel like S-H-I-T," she admitted.

"Well, at least you can still do the spelling thing," she offered brightly, "Little A.J.'s getting to old."

"I'll have to remember that," Mac smiled then paused, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner. I was just-"

"Don't worry about it," she squeezed her hand. Harriet knew there was more to the story, but she also knew Mac would share it in time, "We're friends."

"Even if I haven't been that good of one?" she bit her lip. Outside of Harm, Harriet was one of the few people to whom she confided about her past

"Luckily, I'm nice," she teased, "Besides, once this is all taken care of, we're going to sit down and have a long lunch and you are going to tell me everything."

"I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

"I've been expecting you," Mic opened the door of his hotel the minute Harm knocked. 

"Can I come in?" he asked with as much self control as he could muster.

"Sure," he walked over to the mini-bar, "You want a drink?"

"No thanks," he answered through gritted teeth.

"More for me," Mic took a swig, "How's my wife?"

Harm stared silently.

"You enjoying her?" he asked suggestively, "Because you can have that whore."

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Harm's fist connected with Mic's face before the man could react. Mic fought back, but his inebriated state took its toll, and minutes later Harm stood over him as he clutched his bloody nose, "You better stay the hell away from her and the kids, and if I find out you so much as looked in their direction you're a dead man, Brumby!"

Harm stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Getting back at Brumby felt good, but Harm left the hotel with a heavy heart. He knew that he could help Mac with this half of the battle, but the rest would be up to her.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know the Harm/Mic confrontation wasn't that long, but I feel like it got the job done. As for review replies…until I know for sure that they won't cause this to be deleted, I'm going to hold off…but please know I LOVE hearing what you think and I'm grateful for all your reviews, so keep leaving 'em! 


	16. Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine…

A/N: Okay, this is a little shorter, but school is crazy so this is the best I can do. Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter 14:**

Mac sat in her hospital room the next morning utterly bored. The night before, Harriet had promised to return with Nat and Talia plus her two in the morning. Managing the four meant there was no way she would get there before 9:30 am. She did get an early morning visit from her doctor at 6:30 am, which made her curse the entire concept of morning rounds in the medical profession. He told that the earliest she would be released was that evening, if and only if the swelling around her brain want down to normal. Normally, she would argue with him, but she knew that the only reason she felt fine was because of the 'happy juice' flowing through her IV.

_It's__ 7:16 and we've got your local weather and traffic_ filtered from the television news program she was using to try to distract her, "It's 7:17!"

"I see you're in good spirits," Harm teased walking into the room and hearing her yell at the television.

"Hardly," she muted the program.

"Did you sleep well?" he pulled a chair to her bedside.

"If you call getting woken up every 54-67 minutes to have nurses shine lights in your eyes and examine your pupils sleeping well, then yeah."

"How are your pupils?" he asked with a grin.

"Equal but sluggish," she rolled her eyes, "But if you hang around for another 47 minutes, you can get an update."

"That's tempting."

"How was your errand?"

"Fine."

"It was Mic wasn't it?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know you," she paused a beat, "You shouldn't have gone. I can take care of myself."

"Someone had to do something."

"Not you!" she shouted stubbornly, "Sorry, it's just," Mac sighed, "I filed a report with the police after Harriet left last night. I was going to press charges, but now I don't know."

"You're going to let this go?" he looked shocked, "You have to press charges."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can," he said earnestly, "I'll help you through this. What's stopping you?"

"A number of things," she shrugged, "It depends."

"On what?"

"What you said to Mic," she took a breath and met his eyes, "Or more importantly, what you did," he didn't respond, "Does that mean you two had it out?"

"You could say that."

"You shouldn't have done anything."

"Somebody had to."

"Look, Harm," she sighed, "I appreciate you defending me, I really do, but how am I going to press charges when he's just as injured as I am?"

"No, he's not. You're the one in the hospital bed."

"Because I tripped over Talia's toy and hit my head on the corner of your table."

"Mac, do you have any idea how close you came to needed emergency brain surgery?"

"But I didn't," she argued, although her tone was significantly less confrontational.

"You could have died."

"I'm okay now," she looked down at her hands and continued, "But if I had, Mic could have argued crime of passion and get charged with first degree manslaughter."

"The man hit you and you're coming up with defense strategies for him?"

"I'm trying to look at this objectively," he wanted to tell her that she as far from objective, but he let her continue, "Mic came home from a conference expecting to find his wife and kids, but instead found divorce papers. He comes to D.C. and finds her staying in the apartment of the man with whom he thinks she's having an affair. He's overwhelmed and upset, and then things just get out of control."

"So you're saying he's justified?"

"I'm saying a court could see it that way."

"Mac, do you hear yourself?" he stared at her, "You're sitting in a hospital bed because of what he did and you're defending him!"

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Is it?"

"It's not. I'm being realistic," she tried to cross her arms but the IV got in the way and she angrily slammed her fists on the mattress, "If I press charges for assault, any decent attorney will get him probation on the condition that he seeks counseling. What good will that do?"

"You'll get your divorce and custody of your kids."

"That's only a temporary fix. Once he completes therapy, he'll be 'better' and can file for visitation."

"We'll fight it."

"We'll lose."

"Your lawyer won't let that happen."

"That's very sweet, Harm."

"But?" he prompted.

"Who I am to decide that my kids never see their father again?"

"You're their mother."

"But he's their father," she paused, "You can't honestly tell me that not having your father around didn't affect you."

"That was different."

"Yeah, the circumstances were different, but results are the same. I don't want them to grow up feeling abandoned."

"They won't. They'll have you."

"One parent can't replace the other," she looked at him grimly, "We both know that."

"Then you sit them down and explain it to them."

"And then what? They hate him?" she shook her head and squeezed back the tears in her eyes, "I don't want that."

"I know you don't," he handed her a tissue.

"Thank you," she dabbed her eyes, "God, I'm such a wreck. My life is such a wreck."

"Luckily, I specialize in fixing up wrecks," he joked.

"You're very good at this knight in shining armor thing," she cracked a smile.

"I try m'lady. What time is it?"

"0741."

"Shoot," he stood up quickly, "I've got to get to JAG or the admiral will have my six."

"Does he know?" she asked and he stopped in the doorway, "About me?"

"Yes, expect a visit at lunch."

"Okay."

"I'll come after work," he said closing the door as he left, "Bye."

"Bye," she watched the door close and sighed. Only one hour and forty nine minutes until Harriet arrived with the children. Until then, it was back to _Good Morning America_.

* * *

Nix707 – First of all, it's not sad that you find joy in Harm punching Mic, I found joy in writing this. As for the time it takes me to review reply, this one took 34 minutes, but it's probably not a normal situation. I have a ton of pointless Spanish to finish so I'm rushing but I'm watching NCIS at the same time, so who know show that effected this. And I'm frequently disturbed by the fact that Ducky resembles the chancellor of my university. Sorry, that was tangent…I blame studying…

JamieAKAaclassyone – Crazy college schedules and the craziness of fan fic instead of studying…because I'm not doing that now cough, cough. And Harm would show restraint because he wouldn't want to go too far…even if I kind of wanted him to.

KittyX – Thanks. I wanted to have the confrontation go on longer, but Harm wouldn't actually go so far as to kill him.

Jeanmary – Thanks for the compliments. I'm 19 and I'm lucky enough to come from a happy home. I'm involved in a lot of community service work, so I've picked up some insights. Anyway, Harm is working on the way to get Mic away from Mac for good.

Macandharmlover – Mic's just difficult, and Harm plays hero and sometimes doesn't think of the consequences, but he still going to try and fulfill his hero role. He HAS to save his damsel in distress.

Dansingwolf – Mac's definitely no softie, but as you said, Mic is a boxer which is why she can't really "beat" him. But when Mic's intoxicated Harm definitely can…yay!

Cbw – School is rough, and last weekend I meant to get more on this, but personal stuff got in the way too. Things are fine with me, but cousin had to evacuate her college in New Orleans, a friend's brother was killed in an accident, we found a girl passed out in a bathroom…basically I was too distracted to write. Anyway, sorry about that rambling. Now Harm's going to help Mac with the Mic problem and the focus will be on Mac regaining her life.

TV Angel 711 – So my brawl wasn't quite so sensational as the one you thought up, but it got the job done. I wanted it to be longer too, but Harm likes to get straight to the point.

Toplesslemon – I'm glad you liked the "flashbacks" and I think the no kids in the ICU rule is a general thing. The hospital in my hometown has a no kids under 13 years rule, and I think kids are kept out because they carry germs and it's a traumatic location.

xLovexNxPainx – Yup, Mac's kids are all a little freaky with the time thing.

MiDushiNoSushi – Mac's all about her kids. Nothing will keep her from them. Yup, it was short because of the legal entanglement issues…Harm wouldn't take things too far. I'm glad that you're getting the psych aspects of the abuse, because I agree that if it was strictly physical Mac would have taken Nat to the US Embassy and filed for divorce if it wasn't for those darn manipulative entanglements.

Jaggurl – Thanks; I'm sorry that this one took a little longer.

Mxfan214 – Thanks! I'm working on the speed thing…darn classes…bleh!

Kiki – Thanks for the support!

Starryeyes10 – Thanks!

JAGJenni – Thanks and I'm glad I got you hooked!

Ender2 – Thanks for reading this. I really appreciate your support. Even if you point out my self-insertion issues…hehehe!

Janlaw – Yeah, I've grappled with the same thing as I write this. Hopefully I've accurately conveyed that Mac's abuse is atypical in that it's a mix of psychological and not just straight up violence. At least that's my goal.

General Chaos – I can't decide if Harm's going to be brought up on charges or if all this will be kept off the record. And Harm being good with her kids will definitely be good for the relationship. Nat's already looking him as his protector and Mac's starting to think the same thing.

Manda – Thank you very much!

Pain – Woohoo! I'm free of the ever present munchkin threat!

LitoMzLani – Don't worry, Nat's going to bounce back because he's young and resilient.

Kristie – Welcome to the club and thanks!

Anita – I was going to have Harm tell Mic there was no affair, but Mic would not have listened or believed him. Don't worry, Mac will be adequately cleared of Mic's assumptions in time.

CJKS – Yup, Mic always had that potential for sketchiness and I'm glad to have you back!

Radiorox – That's me, Miss Sneaky. I actually think FFnet spasms whenever I update to quickly as I did last time, but now that school's in full force my updates will be slower so there won't be spasms. Also, expect Mic to be completely marginalized in the next chappie or so.

Prinnie – I'm glad you started reading and I'm glad you like the kids. Writing them is one of my favorite parts of this fic.

Shelly – Thanks, I'm glad you caught the changes in Mac. Even though she won't admit her, her time with Mic changed her. She's much more subdued in ways that she doesn't realize, but deep down she's still good old Mac.


	17. Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing…

A/N: Okay, longer than last time, but still kind of short. School is going well, just busy, but I promise to keep going on this puppy. It works as a much needed study break and tool for procrastination! Happy Reading

* * *

**Chapter 15:**

"Auntie Mac!"

"Mummy!"

The two voices bursting through her doorway, interrupted her watching _Ellen_, which was the most entertaining thing she had seen all morning. Feeling much stronger than the night before, Mac leaned over and pulled Nat onto the bed while little A.J. climbed up on his own, "Hi boys."

"Hi," they answered in unison and she gave them each a kiss.

"Where's your mom, A.J.?" she asked the older boy.

"Hallway," he answered checking out the hospital bed on which he sat. As if on cue, Harriet appeared in the doorway with a diaper bag on her shoulder with Jimmy in a carrier and Talia in a stroller. A.J. noticed his mother's entrance and waved to her, "Hi Mommy."

"Hi A.J.," she rolled her eyes and turned to Mac, "How are you this morning."

"Better but bored," she watched as Harriet put the diaper bag on the ground, plopped Jimmy's carrier on the chair next to her, and sat down while moving Talia from the stroller to her lap, "That was impressive."

"Thanks, but it was sheer luck. We're really on the brink of insanity, aren't we Talia?" she realized that Mac would probably want Talia, "Here, sorry."

"Hey Tali-babes," Mac kissed her and settled the girl into her arms, "Seriously, though, they're not being too much of a handful for you, are they?"

"No, it's just four small children all under that age of five."

"Well, when things are straightened out with me, I'm going to take your kids so you and Bud can have a romantic weekend alone."

"Thank you," shr smiled, "But Bud actually loves the fearsome-foursome thing. He actually hinted towards us expanding our duo."

"What did you say?" Mac's jaw dropped, excited by the prospect of gossip.

"We'll see."

"I would have hit him."

"That was my initial reaction," she laughed and looked down at little A.J. who was tugging on her sleeve, "Yes, A.J."

"Why would you and Auntie Mac want to hit daddy?" he asked innocently.

"We don't," Harriet answered quickly.

"But you just said–"

"Hey, A.J.," Mac broke in, "Did Nat tell you what this bed can do?"

"No," he slowly switched his gaze from his mother to her, "What?"

"It moves!" Nat shouted happily scrambling across the bed to sit next to Mac so his back was against the pillows too.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Mac handed Talia over to Harriet who mouthed 'thank you' to her, "Come sit here like Nat."

"Okay," A.J. situated himself on the other side of Mac.

"Ready?" she pressed the button to lower the head of the bed, making both boys giggle. After two minutes of bed games neither boy was tired of what they considered to be amazing technology, "Okay, we're done."

"Aw, one more time?" little A.J. asked.

"You can do it once more before you go," Harriet gave Talia back to Mac and lifted A.J. from the bed, "But now why don't you and Nat play for a little bit."

"Okay," he began digging through the diaper bag to get his toys.

"Take what you want over there," Harriet pointed to the corner of the room that was hopefully out of earshot as she picked up Nat. She set Nat on the floor and smiled at them, "Play nice."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Harriet Sims Roberts: Supermom," Mac announced when Harriet sat down back down.

"Cute," she smirked, taking Jimmy from his carrier and settling him in her arms.

"I try."

"Speaking of superheroes," she began, glancing over at the boys who were engrossed with their toy cars, "How's your personal hero?"

"My personal hero?" she broke her friends gaze and began straightening Talia's clothes.

"Her clothes are fine, look at me," she snapped her fingers impatiently, "You know exactly who I'm talking about: H-A-R-M."

"Oh, him," she met Harriet's eyes sheepishly.

"Yeah, him."

"He's a friend and helping me out."

"And I'm the Queen of England."

"I had no idea, your highness," Mac grinned getting a glare from Harriet, "He's just a friend. I haven't seen him in years and he's helping me out because he has a hero-complex."

"It's more than that, and you know it," she paused, "You two have this unspoken bond that's clearly unbreakable."

"Yeah, it's called friendship."

"Or soul mates? Or lo–"

"Don't say it," Mac interrupted sharply.

"Okay, I won't, but that doesn't mean I'm not right."

"First of all, you're wrong. Secondly, if I never hear that word again, it will be too soon."

"You say that now."

"I mean it."

"You'll be begging for that word when the right man comes along," she got no response from Mac and continued, "Or when you realize that the right man is standing right in front of you."

"Harriet."

"Don't rule it out. The heart works in mysterious ways."

"No it doesn't," A.J. rejoined their conversation, "Daddy says it just pumps in and out going _Thump-thump-thump_. That's not a secret."

"Um, you're right A.J." Harriet sighed as Mac gave her a smile that said 'I'm off the hook, ha!'

"So, A.J., why aren't you in preschool today?" she asked him, ignoring the look Harriet shot back that said 'For now.'

"I dunno," he shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

"Spring break," Harriet answered for him and then reached into her bag, "I brought you something."

"What?"

"Clothes!" she pulled out a brown skirt and pink top, "For your discharge."

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully, Harriet had brought a bag of necessities the previous night, but fresh clothes to leave with were a plus.

"Do you like them?" A.J. asked, "Me and Nat picked them out."

"Nat and I," Harriet corrected.

"And me," A.J. added completely missed the grammar lesson, "Mommy only helped a little."

"We went over to your place to get some things for the kids," Harriet explained with an exasperated sigh over her son, "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, Thank you."

"You're welcome. Where do you want them?"

"Could you put them on the shelf in the closet?"

"I'll do it!" A.J. offered reaching for the clothes.

"Thank you," Harriet handed them to him.

"Here you go Nat," he passed the shirt to the little boy, "You help too."

"Aw, he's teaching him manners," Mac smiled.

"For now," Harriet smirked back, "Give it a month and Nat will know all of A.J.'s tricks."

"Thanks for giving me something to look forward to," she snorted.

"I'm just being honest," she looked down at Jimmy, "Although I can honestly say that I'm dreading the day that you start following your big brother."

"We're done!" A.J. announced and Nat nodded his head emphatically in confirmation.

"Thank you," Mac shifted Talia on her lap, who was happily playing with the ends of her hair.

"Good job," Harriet added, "Now why you guys go back to your toys."

"Can I bring Jimmy?" A.J. reached out for his brother, "I want to teach him our game."

"Sure," Harriet carefully passed Jimmy over, "Be careful."

"I know," A.J. expertly balanced his brother, who latched onto him and was clearly used to being transported this way.

"Aw, A.J. wants to teach him things," Mac teased, "That's sweet."

"Does Nat like frogs?" Harriet shot back, "Because A.J. knows the best place to find them and I'm sure he'd be happy to show Nat."

"Okay," she threw her hands up to surrender, "I'm sorry."

"That's right," she leaned back in her chair and they both laughed, "Don't mess with the master."

"God, Harriet, I've missed you so much," her smile became serious, "I'm sorry about not staying in touch."

"It was out of your control," she squeezed her hand, Harm had explained some of the details to her and Bud, "We get that and we don't blame you. We're just glad to have you back."

"You make it sound so simple," she said softly.

"After Bud got back, I learned to focus on the positive. Don't get mired down in the details of what got you there, just celebrate the moments you have."

"Have I told you I missed you," Mac wiped her eyes.

"Only once or twice," Harriet smiled with tears in her eyes as well.

"You know I never used to be this emotional," she sighed.

"It's the kids," she dabbed her eyes with a tissue, "They mess with your hormones."

"So this is your fault, Tali-babe," Mac looked down at her daughter who was serenely watching the conversation between the two women.

"But it's worth it," Harriet watched A.J. play with Jimmy and Nat.

"More than worth it."

* * *

JamieAKAaclassyone – The admiral will definitely pay Mac a visit in the next chapter to discuss the Mic situation. As we all know, he's always been more than just a CO to his staff, so he will definitely want to be involved in the resolution of the issue.

JanLaw – Thanks for the info and I've definitely taken that stuff into consideration, and hopefully I'll cover a lot of it in the next few chapters. Based on the Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Child Abduction the custody would be handled in the Aussie courts because that's where their primary residence has been. I think you're right in that the divorce could be handled in either court but I may have it be Aussie because that's where Mac drew up the initial papers that she left for Mic. I also know that they need a international lawyer to handle this, but Mac has had no job and basically spent a lot of her time researching her situation via the internet, so that combined with the JAG legal skills should work. Okay, that was really long, but I needed to sort this out and you helped…so thanks!

TV Angel 711 – Let's go team! Hehehe!

Knight of Caeli – Yeah, Mac has issues, but she isn't the typical battered woman. She hasn't fallen completely into the idea that Mic is blameless in hitting her, she gets that that is wrong, but those darn unresolved issues keep her from realize the hold Mic has on her.

Cbw – I love escapism…really I do…so that really works out for y'all doesn't it?

Nix707 – I realize that you may have already resolved this issue, but do you think you have a pop-up blocker on that's preventing the review box from opening? I had a similar problem when I got my new computer, so maybe?

Pain – But talking is easier to write…and it has to get done before action.

Mxfan214 – Thanks!

Macandharmlover – Yup excellent point…I actually need to work that in somewhere in the next chapters.

KittyX – Thanks for your support.

Litomzlani - Ooo! I've got you out of control…excellent…

Radiorox – Yes, Margerinized…Harm will take a knife, spread him on some toast, and eat him for breakfast…hehehe!

Prinnie – Thanks for the complements…you make me feel loved!

KittyDoggyLover – Thank you for the complements, you are really too sweet…although I'm sure my mom would freak out if I told her "Hey Mom, I'm not pre-law anymore, I'm going to try and make it as a struggling writer." That'd be fun!


	18. Chapter Sixteen

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I'm suffering from severe laziness and lack of motivation regarding schoolwork and fan fic. But do not fear because I am bound to get passed it soon, because if I don't, I will fail out of life (figuratively speaking). Luckily, I have no plans of doing so, which means, I should get my butt in gear this weekend, which means good things for my academic future and my faithful readers. Did that make sense? Did I mention that I was overtired? Anyway, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

Harriet had left before noon to take the kids to lunch, leaving Mac to eat alone in her room. She had graduated from clear liquids to the regular food, but her turkey sandwich remained only marginally appealing. The television had actually improved from the morning talk shows to soap operas. Although Mac generally did not watch the trashy dramas, she used to watch _General__ Hospital_with her mother in her early teens and the familiar storylines provided perfect entertainment for the time being. She was wrapped up in a storyline involving Luke Spencer, one of the characters who was still on the show after all these years, and was startled by a knock at her door.

"Enter," she quickly muted the television and looked up to see the admiral, "Hello, sir—A.J."

"How are you feeling?" he asked sitting down in the chairs Harriet had left at the bedside.

"Bored, but otherwise better."

"At least you've found something to keep you occupied," he glanced at the television.

"Oh, I don't normally watch these," she answered quickly, "Although I have to say that these are much better than their Australian counterparts."

"Is that so," he smirked and they settled into silence. The admiral sat with his cover in his lap patiently waiting for Mac to start talking, but all she did was clear her throat, "I'm not going to order you to talk, Mac, I'm not your CO anymore."

"I wish you were," she muttered softly.

"Hm?"

"Things were so much simpler then," she sighed, "I'd give anything to go back to then."

"Would you give up your children?"

"Never."

"Then the present cannot be that bad."

"Right," she snorted, "Is it safe to assume Harm filled you in?"

"Yes."

"How much did he tell you?"

"Enough for me to regret ever allowing Brumby to be assigned TAD to JAG," _and to want to personally see the man dead, _he added mentally, leaving the last part off so as not to irritate Mac.

"Yeah, me too," she sighed, "I was just so stupid."

"No, Mac, you weren't."

"Yes, I was," she clenched her jaw and stared straight ahead, "I let him convince me to stay in Australia. I let him keep me like a prisoner in our own home. I let him make me believe that everyone had moved on. I let him move back home after the first time."

"You didn't 'let' anything happen. Brumby made those things happen," he tried to catch her eye, but she remained focused on the wall, "He is the guilty party in all of this."

"Don't you think I know that sir?" her eyes quickly snapped to him, "I am NOT my mother and I have never once justified his actions. He had no right to touch me, and I never blamed myself for that. So please do not assume that I fit the standard profile of a battered woman, because I am not that."

"That is what you are," he held her gaze and allowed it to sink in.

"I…" she looked down at her hands.

"You are one of the strongest women I have ever met, Mac, but you are only human. Yes, you are a Marine and are trained to handle the physical, but that cannot prepare you for betrayal by someone you trust, by someone you love."

"I did love him," she whispered, looking up at the ceiling and trying to keep her tears at bay, "But I still should have been able to see it."

"You couldn't see it because he didn't want you to. This is what I'm talking about. You are the victim here, Mac, and as hard as it may seem, you aren't going to get past this until you recognize that."

"Okay," she took a steadying breath.

"It's not going to happen overnight."

"All right," she had officially calmed herself enough to be back in work mode, "But what do I do in the present?"

"You fight until the enemy's defeated," he pulled out a couple of files from his briefcase.

"Are those mine?" Mac recognized the labels as her own.

"Harm passed them along to me," he had read over everything Mac had researched and was reminded of why she used to be his unofficial chief of staff, "You did a good job."

"Thank you."

"I mean it. With the research you did on international custody and the Hague Convention's rulings on international child abduction, we should be able to draw up and file the motions by tomorrow afternoon."

"And Mic will just go along with whatever we decide?" she asked, her voice laced with skepticism, "He's not going to give in that easily. Believe me."

"But the threat of assault charges from you combined with the end to his naval career may change his mind."

"Can you do that? End his career?"

"I can come damn well close."

"Works for me," she smiled, relieved to have him in her corner.

"Good," he stood up and handed her the files, "Now all you have to do is come up with an agreement that you deem satisfactory."

"Yes sir," she answered out of habit, "I mean, I will and thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiled, "But can I offer you one more piece of advice?"

"Of course."

"Don't keep it bottled up, Mac. Talk to Harm."

He was out of the room before Mac could respond. Sighing, she looked down at the files in her lap and began to work.

* * *

Harm walked into Mac's hospital room that afternoon and was surprised to find her fully dressed and sitting in a chair in the corner of the room reading some notes. Her skirt was casual and her hair was air drying, but she looked more refreshed than she had in the past couple of days. Of course the frazzled late night arrival at his apartment and a hospital gown were really not the best examples for comparison. Either way, she looked good. 

"Are you going to come in or just stand in the doorway?" Mac asked without looking up.

"Sorry."

"So can I tell little A.J. and Nat that you approve of their clothing choices?" she looked up at him with a smile.

"Give them my compliments," he hid his embarrassment over being caught staring, "Have you come to a decision."

"Yeah, I think so," she handed him the draft she had written. In a nutshell, the document called for a full divorce and Mic signing away his custody rights to both of their children. Mic was guaranteed supervised visitation at Christmas and Easter as well as birthday phone calls. Any additional visitation would be permitted at Mac's discretion, but Mic was free to contact his children via letter at anytime, "What do you think?"

"It's much more generous than I would have been."

"It's not too generous, is it?" she asked with concern.

"No, it's fair," he handed it back to her, "I'm just biased."

"That's an understatement," she rolled her eyes thinking about just what Harm would like to do to Brumby, "You ready to leave?"

"Are you cleared?"

"I passed my last CT scan with flying colors," she stood up and was hit with a wave of dizziness.

"You sure about that?" he steadied her with his arm.

"I just stood up to fast. Only a momentary setback," she walked over to the bed and hit the nurse call button, "Once the nurse gets here, you're taking me home."

"You want to go to your place?"

"Yes," she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Because you can stay at my apartment again if you want?"

"Thanks, Harm, but I think Nat and Talia deserve their own beds."

"Okay, but I'm spending the night," he held up a finger, "And no arguments."

* * *

Nix707 – I'm honored although secretly angry that you put your own writing on hold to read my stuff…although I do the same with yours so I shouldn't have issues. My Mac/Harriet scenes were inspired by TLWL…I love how you do their friendship, and I wanted to work it into mine. And I love that you like the kids' names…it was honestly one of the hardest parts about first starting the story. I settled on Nat pretty quickly, but Talia went through a few others before I settled on one. 

KittyDoggyLover – Thanks! And as for the law, my mother went through a brief state of concern that I chose the field because of my interest in legal dramas…actually, that's still a concern…hehehe!

TV Angel 711 – Only because you asked nicely, although I'll admit that this was a bit short, but I wanted Mac to chat with the admiral. Anyway, I don't like Brumby and he'll be back in Oz before you know it.

JamieAKAaclassyone – Yay, you like the kids! I love writing them.

Jaggurl – You're welcome…thank you for reading.

MiDushiNoSushi – I love that I made you laugh, even if it disrupted your workplace. I felt that was totally something Harriet would say because she does have the experience as the mother of mischievous boys.

Dansingwolf – I love little AJ and I wish there could have been more of him on the show…although he was really too young to have a storyline of his own…but still!

Prinnie – Mmm…Mac 'n' Cheese…maybe I'll work that in…or just go buy some…either way, I hope that this chapter hit the spot…or at least tempted your tastebuds?

Mxfan214 – Mic's getting closer to bing out the picture…now he's like in the corner of the picture.

Cbw – Thanks…I love the friendship they share. I'm all about the Harm/Mac goodness, but they aren't the only two people in the world. Both of them have great friends who deserve to be recognized.

Shelly – Thanks…I had fun writing it!

Starryeyes10 – Thanks a bunch!

Radiorox – You're right, that's not a pleasant image…I promise no more ear-biting allusions!


	19. Chapter Seventeen

Disclaimer: Not mine…but we all know that…

A/N: First of all, I'm so SORRY for taking so long to update, school has been chaotic. Technically it's still extremely chaotic, so unfortunately, this is kind of short, but I felt like I owed you guys something. On a lighter note, if anyone has read Joseph Ellis' _American Sphinx_, I would be happy to share a 6 page paper critiquing the book with you…j/k…well, I do have that paper but if I hear anything about Thomas Jefferson in the next couple months it will be too soon. On that note…happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

That night, Mac fell asleep in her bed and slept peacefully, or as peacefully as one could when being awoken every 2 hours to be monitored by 'Dr. Harm'. Although she complained through every mental alertness exam, she liked that he was there. Harm provided the sense of security she desperately craved. Knowing that he was downstairs on the couch while she and her children slept upstairs, Mac was able to sleep better than she had in the last six months.

The following morning, Mac awoke to find Nat snuggled up against her and the smell of breakfast wafting up the stairs. Harm had cooked for them again, and they ate breakfast together like a family would. When Mac watched Nat run to give Harm a goodbye hug, she almost dissolved into tears. She thought back to a time when Nat would happily run to tell his daddy goodbye, a time when her marriage was actually a good and she was happy.

But she would be happy again, right? That was what this whole move back to the states was about; it was about happiness for herself and her children, but when she watched Nat play with his sister she had her doubts. Mac knew that she would never go back to Mic, but he would always be their father, and because of that he would always be a part of her life, like it or not.

"Mummy?" Nat walked over to her, leaving Talia to play with by herself on the floor.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Are you okay?" he stared at her with his big brown eyes, "You look sad."

"Come here," she pulled him onto her lap, "I am a little sad."

"Why?"

"I'm just thinking about memories."

"Mem'ries," he repeated, "Like of our old house?"

"Yeah."

"You miss it?" he looked down, "I miss it."

"Oh baby," she kissed his head and held back her own tears, "I'm sorry."

"But I like it here too," he said the minute he noticed his mother's tears, "I like Unca Harm, Unca Bud, Auntie Harriet, A.J., Talia, and you."

"Good," she smiled, "Because we all like you," she poked his nose playfully, "A lot."

"Good," he paused thoughtfully, "Is Daddy going to go home?"

"Yes, Mr. Nat, he is," Mac said softly, hoping that Harm and the admiral would keep their promise and ensure that Mic signed the papers.

"Oh," his features showed serious thought. He couldn't fully understand what was going on and everything confused him. Nat loved his father but he also knew that his daddy hurt his mom and made her cry.

"Look, Mr. Man," she began, "Just because your daddy and I aren't living together, it doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. Your daddy will love you forever and so will I, because that's how it works and you're our favorite little boy."

"I'm your only little boy," he gave her a sly grin.

"And I couldn't have asked for a better one," she smiled back at him.

"Is that why Talia's a girl?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, honey, it is," she laughed to herself, deciding to save the genetics lecture for later. There had been enough serious discussion for the morning, and she just wanted to spend the rest of that time playing with her kids, "Come on, let's go play with your sister."

"Okay," he slid down from the couch, and Mac joined him on the floor, thankful for the resilience of little kids.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home," Harm teasingly called out when he entered Mac's house that afternoon. 

"Shh!" she scolded from the kitchen.

"What?" he asked softly as he joined her in the kitchen.

"They're napping," she pointed at the baby monitor.

"Sorry," he sat down her kitchen table, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she sat down across from him "How was work?"

"Fine," he answered vaguely. He wanted to tell her about his visit to Mic, but he didn't want to force the issue. It was her decision.

"Did you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Did he?" she looked almost terrified.

"Yes," he watched the relief wash over her face.

"Thank god," she whispered, "When is he leaving?"

"He has a flight to Sydney tonight."

"I need to see him," she stood up abruptly.

"What?" he stood up as well.

"Volume," she looked at him and then the baby monitor.

"Sorry," he lowered his voice, "But why do you need to see him?"

"I just do."

"Mac?"

"Nat needs to," she whispered fiercely, "He needs to say goodbye to her father."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized for jumping to the wrong conclusions, "I didn't think of that. I just assumed that--"

"That what?" she scoffed, "That I'd want to tear up the papers and go back to him? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No," he pulled the divorce papers and custody agreement from his briefcase, "But you didn't sign them this morning."

"I was distracted by my kids this morning," she lied to him. She wasn't that distracted, but she just couldn't bring herself to pick up a pen, "Give them to me now."

"You sure?" he handed them over to her as she grabbed a pen from the jar on the counter.

"Yes," she snatched them away and quickly signed _Sarah Brumby _on the dotted line. Looking down at her signature, she realized that this was probably the last time she'd ever sign that name again. Sighing, she handed the papers back to Harm, "Well, my second marriage has now officially failed."

"You shouldn't look at it like that, Mac."

"How should I look at it?" she threw her arms in the air, "This strike number two."

"You have three strikes before you're out," he took a step towards her.

"When did my life become a baseball game?" she asked lightly, but not taking a step back.

"This isn't a game," he told her sincerely.

"I…" she was interrupted by Talia's cries over the baby monitor, "Need to get my daughter. Excuse me."

* * *

A/N: I told you it was short…sorry…but please review…they brighten the hectic days of this college student. 

TV Angel 711 – Yeah, I would have liked some violent retribution, but there would be too many consequences and Harm knew that. As for the romance…I'm getting to it…I just need to get Brumby out of the picture so Mac can move on.

Cool Cat – Thanks and sorry about the delay!

KJFlygirl – Hehehe…thanks for reading!

Cbw – I've actually been playing with idea of Mac returning to the Marines. I don't have enough knowledge to know if she'd actually be able to go back, but perhaps in RunRun's version of the UCMJ she can. Also, I have to find a way to make sure there wouldn't be any relationship issues with the chain of command…because that would definitely screw things up.

MiDushiNoSushi – Thanks for the review…I really appreciate you telling me that my writing of Mac as a battered woman works. That has been the hardest part of writing this. Also, thanks for the good luck on school…hopefully I'll be less stressed this week.

Mxfan214 – Thanks…sorry about taking so long!

Nix707 – Ooo! I never thought about getting a baby name book, although did become my close personal friend…I don't have any idea what I would do if I had to name Harm and Mac's kid…I feel like that has more pressure…with Mic I could totally ignore any need to carry on a family name and all that jazz…anyhoo…I need to stop rambling, finish this, and get to bed.

DD2 – Thanks!

Prinnie – I actually stopped eating Mac 'n' Cheese for a while because from the ages of 4 to 10 my little brother was obsessed with it and I got extremely burned out…thanks for the review!

JamieAKAaclassyone – Thanks! And you're a fellow soap fan…hehehe…I totally understand how they keep drawing you back. I officially watch just GH, but I watch the other ABC shows in the summer with my mom, and they still draw me back in.

KittyDoggyLover – Thanks for the review!

Pain – I'm biased too, but Mac's trying to think about her kids needs…or something…

Tina Frank – Thanks…we're working on closure…because when Mac gets closure she can start moving on…with other people…hehehe!

Lu – I'm hiding behind my desk because I'm afraid some of the other readers are going to send their minions at me for not updating. Actually, I'm just stressed out from school, but thanks for the review!


	20. Chapter Eighteen

Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: So this one's longer than the last, and my stress level has dropped significantly since my last update. Although I have to warn you that I have my first chemistry exam this upcoming Friday, so I won't be able to think clearly until after that's done, which sadly means no updates until next weekend at the earliest. In other words: sorry in advance. Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

It had been three weeks since Harm had driven Mac and the kids to say goodbye. The ride each way was virtually silent and even Nat was uncharacteristically quiet. When they reached the hotel, Mac wasted no time getting up to the room. It was like someone had turned her autopilot on fast forward.

_"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked._

_"Uh no," he eyes flitted nervously from their spot in the elevator bay to Mic's door a few yards away, 'You should probably stay here."_

_"I'll wait in the hallway," Harm said unwilling to let her out of his sight._

_"Okay," she took Nat's hand, "Let's go, Mr. Man."_

_"I'll knock," Nat offered when his mother hesitated._

_"Sarah," Mic opened the door in surprise and shot an angry look at Harm, who silent stood in the background._

_"Hi Daddy!"__ Nat smiled, his confused thoughts from before replaced by the excitement of seeing his dad._

_"Hey champ!" Mic picked him up, "Come on in."_

_"You coming Mummy?" Nat called from his dad's shoulder as he was carried into the hotel room._

_"Yeah, sweetie," She followed them in with Talia in her arms, leaving Harm to watch from the doorway._

Harm had stood there and watched as Mic and Nat said their farewells. He had watched Mic kiss Talia goodbye and place a kiss on a stoic Mac's cheek. He had then watched as Mic, with a mixed look of relief and despair, had tried to hold back her tears. They got into the elevator in silenced and remained that way until Harm dropped them off at her house.

Over the next couple of days, Harm had checked in on Mac claiming that he just happened to be in the neighborhood. They both knew this was a lie, but neither he nor she would challenge it. Nat loved Harm's visits and Harm found himself looking forward to 'playtime' when he got home from work. It was not much, but it was nice.

He and Mac were getting along well too. She looked happier then when she first came back to the states and was once again laughing easily. The last two weekends, Mac had even invited him and Mattie over for dinner. In a way, they had started to date. Of course neither would admit that, and Harm didn't want to push the issue until he was sure Mac was comfortable.

Currently, he was driving to Mac's house for Talia's first birthday party. Harm had offered to drive Mattie and Jen, but they came up with some shopping they needed to do before the party claiming it was all girl stuff. He parked his car, grabbed a manila envelope, and got of the car, "Hello Chloe."

"Hey Harm," Chloe called, handing the cab driver her money, and attempted to balance her suitcase and present for her goddaughter.

"Let me," Harm offered taking the bag for her, "Are you done with school already?"

"Yeah, finished finals yesterday," she smiled.

"Mattie has another week."

"That sucks," she noticed the envelope in Harm's hand, "Don't tell me that's what you got Talia."

"Mattie brought the gift," he held up the envelope, "This is for Mac."

"What is it?"

"Divorce papers," he held open the front door for her.

"So Bugme's officially out of her life?"

"Judge signed them yesterday," Harm smiled, "Where do you want your bag?"

"Closet for now," Chloe swung open the door to the hall closet, "Thanks."

"No problem," Harm smiled when he saw Mac approach them with Talia, "Happy Birthday!"

"I think that means thank you," Mac laughed when Talia clapped her hands. She leaned in to hug Chloe, "Hey Sweetie."

"Hey," Chloe reached for Talia handing Mac the present in exchange, "How is my favorite goddaughter?"

"Chloe!" Nat shouted and raced to hug her.

"Hey buddy!" she ruffled his curls.

"What I don't even get a hello?" Harm teased.

"Nope!" he folded his arms and shook his head.

"Mr. Nat," Mac scolded gently.

"Unca Harm gets a G'day!" he broke out in a grin.

"Works for me. Come here kid," Harm ordered and Nat ran into his arms, "Did you get your sister anything for her birthday."

"Yeah," he nodded emphatically, "I got her Kwala."

"Kwala?" Harm shot Mac a confused look and she just laughed.

"Yeah, to play with Karoo."

"A stuffed Koala to play with her stuffed Kangaroo," Mac explained.

"Oh, good gift," Harm laughed and set Nat back down on the ground, "So, what have you been up to?"

"Playin' with A.J." he grabbed Harm's hand, "You come too!"

"I'll see you ladies later," Harm called as he was dragged away.

"What?" Mac asked Chloe who was staring at her intently.

"Nothing."

"Chloe."

"It's just that Nat really likes Harm," she began innocently, "So does Talia."

"I know. He's great with them."

"And so do you," Chloe whispered and Mac smiled in response, "You didn't correct me, you smiled!"

"Yes, I did."

"Do you know this means?" she asked excitedly, "You are getting closer to actually admitting your feelings."

"Mmhmm," Mac half smiled.

"Talia, do you have any idea how great this is?" Chloe looked down at the little girl, "Your Mommy might actually tell Uncle Harm the truth."

"Okay, Chloe, now I'm going to tell you to stop. Give me my daughter."

"But, what?" Chloe handed Mac Talia.

"Why don't you go find Mattie?"

"You sure? Because I can get that."

"Chloe, go," she smiled, "I'll get it."

"Whatever," Chloe shrugged as she went off in search of her friend.

"Hi A.J.," Mac greeted, not calling him 'sir' for the first time without prompting.

"Hey Mac," the admiral walked in, "Hello, birthday girl. This is for you."

"Thank you," Mac took the present he had for her daughter.

"How is the birthday girl's mother?"

"Better. Much better."

* * *

"Great party," Harm came up to Mac with a stack of empty paper plates. Harriet had been helping Mac with the clean-up, but he had agreed to take over so she could relax in the backyard with the other party guests. 

"Thanks," Mac smiled as she began packaging the leftover cake, "You can put those in the bag by the hall, if you don't mind."

"Sure."

"Do you want any leftovers?"

"Nah," he grabbed the envelope he left in the close, "Mattie and Jen have enough sugar in their fridge."

"But not you, right?" she teased, "Mr. Health Nut."

"I'm not a health nut," he argued, returning to the kitchen.

"Whatever," she shrugged and noticed the envelope in his hands, "What's that?"

"It's for you," he handed it over.

"Harm?" she took the envelope and opened the clasp. She gasped slightly when she saw the contents: her divorce and custody papers signed by a judge, "I wasn't expecting these for another week."

"You had a good lawyer."

"I can't believe it's officially over," she looked down at the papers, "All of it. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I mean it, Harm, not just for the legal stuff. For standing by me, being there for my kids, and supporting me in a way that no one else has before," she reached up to hug him and whispered, "Thank you."

"Like I said, you're welcome and…"

"Hey Mac," Chloe came in with Talia in her arms. At her entrance, Harm and Mac jumped apart, and Chloe smiled at the sight of their hug, "Nevermind."

"Chloe," Mac stared at her expectantly.

"Just a diaper change," she quickly made her way to the stairs, "I got it."

"You hate diapers," Mac reached over and took Talia, "I got it."

"Whatever," Chloe watched Mac go and smiled at Harm.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she answered quickly heading back outside.

* * *

"You look pensive," Chloe walked into the kitchen to find Mac sitting at the table and staring at her divorce papers. The party had ended a couple of hours ago and the kids were asleep. 

"The judge signed the papers," Mac answered simply.

"I know."

"You know?"

"I know all," she smiled, sitting down opposite of Mac.

"I forgot," Mac teased.

"I'll forgive you, if you listen to my advice."

"What advice?" she asked skeptically.

"Get in your car, drive to Harm's, and talk to him."

"No."

"Yes."

"Chloe."

"Mac."

"It's late."

"What time is it?"

"2127."

"That's not late," Chloe countered, "Go."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"That's what I said."

"I just wanted to make sure I was hearing things properly," she held back a grin, "So you're going?"

"Unless you talk me out of it."

"Go!" Chloe jumped up from her chair, "The kids and I'll be fine. You just go."

"All right," Mac grabbed her keys with a laugh and headed for the garage, "I'm going."

"Hoorah!" she grinned as she watched the car pull out. Once Mac was clearly on her way, Chloe raced to the phone, "Hey Mattie, it's Chloe. Whatever you do, do not go over to Harm's apartment tonight," she paused a beat, "Yup, she'll be there."

* * *

Pain – Thank you…I'm happy to please you! 

Nix707 – Sure you had an updating gap, but you just finished a story so you're still far superior. Hehehe…I'd love to ramble longer, but I've got to get this done fast so I can go to Race for the Cure…ttyl!

Bookworm0485 – Okay, I'm being nice because Mac wants her kids to have a semi-healthy relationship with their father one day. She doesn't want them to hate him like she did with her father. As for sending him to jail…well I did banish him to Australia…does that count?

Prinnie – Thanks…I loved that line to? And for confusing Nat's gender…that's what school will do to me…hehehe!

Anacharlie – Ooo! I'm driving you into not sleeping…I like that I hold that power…muahahah!

Janlaw – Thanks for all of the info…I've just been skirting around the issue due to a lack of knowledge.

JamieAKAaclassyone – I'm just mean like that…and I did it again. Although I did have fun making Chloe interrupt what was going on so that she foiled her own plans…hehehe!

Kara – While I'll try to help you procrastinate if you help me be reviewing.

Tina Frank – Thanks...things are settling down into a rhythm, so I'm free to enjoy college again…last week was just chaotic to the extreme

Jaggurl – Hehehe…and now I'm leaving you with a cliffie of sorts…

MiDushiNoSushi – Mac was just dealing with the ending of one chapter of her life…but now she's going to start a new one…hehehe!

Starryeyes – THANKS!

Mxfan214 – I love Nat…have I mentioned that recently? Thanks!

KJFlygirl87 – Thank very very much!

TV Angel 711 – Hehehe…I feel like singing "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead" or something, because even though that's not what happened it just seems to fit!3

Judy52sa - Mmm...romance...yup, that's where this is going!


	21. Chapter Nineteen

Disclaimer: I still do not own them…

A/N: Woo! Chem is done…for now! Anyway, remember that paper on Thomas Jefferson I was whining about a couple of chapters ago? Well, I got the grade and it turns out that I'm not going to bomb out of life…err…history. I know this chapter is again a little short, but I felt like I covered things and midterms are coming…unfortunately. Also, this is kind of getting close to the end, which is sad for me. Happy Reading!

**

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**Chapter 19:**

"Mac" Harm opened the door to find her standing in the hallway, not all that different then that fateful night a month before. Only this time she was not balancing two toddlers, instead she was lone, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," she smiled softly, her mind also going back to the last late night arrival at his place, "May I come in?"

"Of course," he noticed that she had yet to change clothes and still wore the green skirt and breezy white top she had on at the party.

"I wanted to talk."

"Okay," he responded hesitantly, unsure of where she wanted to take this.

"I want to talk about us," she said quickly and waited almost fearfully for his reaction.

"Let's sit down," he led her to the couch, hating that her instinct was to fear his reaction. Before Mic, her eyes would have challenged him, but not any more. For that, Harm wished she would have been harsher in the divorce papers or that he had done more physically to the man. But she was not there to talk about her ex-husband, she was there to talk about them, and equally heavy topic on both ends.

"I need to tell you more about my marriage to Mic," she began after a long pause, "I just am not sure where to start."

"How about Sydney?"

"Sydney?" she questioned, a lot had happened in Sydney.

"When you took his ring," he clarified, his voice laced with a hint of bitterness.

"I would have chosen the night before," she shot back, "When you rejected me."

"That was not a rejection!"

"Wasn't it?"

"No, Mac, it wasn't. I told you I needed time."

"Well, it sure as hell felt like one," she stood up angrily. This was not how this conversation was supposed to be happening.

"So I'm supposed to blame myself for sending you running to Brumby?"

"No!" she gave a frustrated sigh, "I just want you to understand how much you hurt me in Sydney!"

"And you need to understand how much it hurt me when you married him!" he shouted back.

"You know what? I'm leaving," she grabbed her purse angrily. This was not why she came to his apartment. Yes, Mac knew it would not be pretty, but she did not expect it to turn into a screaming matched. She turned to the door, "I'll call you."

"Mac, wait!" he too saw their 'discussion' spiraling out of control and wanted to stop it, so Harm grabbed her arm to physically prevent her from leaving. The second he did so, Harm immediately regretted it. At the sound of voice and the feel of his touch, Mac stiffened and froze. Seeing her reaction, he dropped her arm like it was on fire, "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she said softly in an almost defeated voice, "I know that you would never…I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You can't control your reactions," he told her gently, "It will take time to move past what Brumby did."

"It's more than just Mic," she returned to her seat on the couch.

"Like what?" Harm knew what she was going to say, but wanted her to be the one to say it.

"My father," she folded her arms.

"Talk to me," he sat down next to her.

"It's not what you think," she began running her fingers through her hair nervously, "It's not about the flight or fight instinct and the violence."

"It's not?"

"It is, but that's something I need to work through by myself," she paused, "When he was dying, you told me that whenever a man tells me I'm worth something that I push him away because of my issues with my father, remember?" she asked and he nodded, "Well, as much as it pains me to admit it, you were right.

"Chris was an escape, a means to an end. I loved him in a way, but it was never a real love because he didn't respect me and I knew it. I didn't care though, the relationship wasn't about that," Mac continued her explanation and he allowed her to talk, "Aside from my uncle, John was the first man to ever believe in me and…well…I don't know exactly what that was, but I knew that it would never be permanent. Whatever it was that we had was destined to stay in Okinawa because of the UCMJ. I didn't have to push him away, because I knew the rules would do that for me.

"Dalton saw me as an asset and something he could use. And Mic, I did love him, but we all know how that ended," she shook her head, "The thing is, with all of them there was never any risk. They came after me because they wanted me, and I just had to agree. But not with you," she met his eyes for the first time in the conversation, "I could never tell what was going on in that head of yours, Flyboy. And when I thought I did, you proved me wrong."

"You weren't wrong," Harm said breaking his silence. This was the most she had ever revealed to him about her personal life in all the years he had known her.

"But you couldn't commit," she went back to looking at her hands.

"And Brumby could," he stated it as a simple fact, not an accusation.

"After everything, I figured we just weren't meant to be, but…"

"But what?"

"I'm beginning to think I was wrong about the fate thing."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that from the day we first met you have always respected me, even when I could barely respect myself," she took a steadying breath, "And since I got back, you've been there faithfully, like my knight in shining armor. I walked away and you forgave me. That's more than anyone has ever done for me. You fixed all my problems and you're still here. Here for me and my kids," she stared into his eyes, "My kids adore you, and I…"

"You what?" he prompted when she trailed off closing her eyes.

"I'm tired of dancing and I'm tired of being afraid. I need to know," she opened her eyes, "I love you."

Harm looked at Mac in awe. She had said the words, the words that they had danced around for so long. He never was able to say those words himself, but she could do it. It took a disastrous marriage and two kids for her to get there, but Mac had said it.

"Say something," she ordered her face filled with a mix of hope and anxiety.

"I love you too," he smiled slowly.

"You do?"

"Yes," he answered and watched the relief wash over her face.

"Good," she grinned, "Because I never want to say goodbye again."

"Me neither."

And then they kissed.

**

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A/N: Um…yeah…so can you forgive me for making it short?

Shippergrl25 – What an astute observation you made…

TV Angel 711 – But it's so much fun to be evil and I think I let my good side out a bit in this chapter.

Wow – Thanks!

Tina Frank – I hope you found the convo appropriate1

Lehcar412 – Aw, thank you! I'm glad you like it!

Dansingwolf – You have to remember that Chloe is no longer the little girl singing K-I-S-S-I-N-G, yeah she's still a teenager, but she's a little more mature. And the whole Brumby marriage changed Mac…for the better…hehehe!

Cool Cat – I love cliffies…as I'm sure you've figured out!

Lani – I love reviews whenever I get them, so even if you're busy and can't I'll still like ya!

Mxfan214 – Thanks a bunch!

Cbw – Hmm…I don't know if I can write "heat"…but I can give you shipperness…

MiDushi-NoSushi – Chloe isn't the only one who's matured in the last three years…Harm and Mac have too…with excellent results!

Radiorox – I'm all about girl power…I mean I'm not ashamed to say that I asked the guy to prom when I was in high school.

JamieAKAaclassyone – Chem is always…interesting? And there's nothing wrong with assumptions…especially when they turn out right. wink, wink

Prinnie – Thanks for the luck…I think it went well and hopefully you did well on your two too!

KJFlygril87 – Kirsten, I could have totally seen them plotting to get HM together on the show…if the writers didn't make Chloe fall off the face of the earth!

Jaggurl – Thanks for the luck and the review!


	22. Chapter Twenty

Disclaimer: I don't own them…

A/N: I apologize but midterms are dominating my life. Oddly enough, my exams/essays are spread out over three weeks, which is good in that I'm not cramming all my courses at once, but bad in that I have an unending stream of work. Anyhoo, this one's longer than the last, so happy reading!

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**Chapter 20:**

Harm woke up to find his left arm tingling and numb. When he saw the source of his discomfort, he could not help but smile. Lying fast asleep on top of his arm was one Sarah MacKenzie. Wearing a pair of his boxers and a Navy t-shirt, she looked serene and comfortable nestled up against his chest. The previous night had been amazing, but not in the way one would expect given how he had woken up. Yes, they made out like teenagers, but both of them pulled back before it would go too far. It was not that they did not want to, because they did, it just would have been too much, too soon.

Those three magic words held great power, but they were not a miracle cure. There was a lot of history between them, both good and bad, and it would take a lot of effort to work through it all. What those three words did do was to provide them with a powerful tool: each other. Now that Harm had her, he was not about to let Mac go. No matter how hard the battle for their relationship would be, Harm was not about to surrender.

The night before, Mac had told him that he was different from every other man in her life, and the same applied to Harm. Never had he met someone as complicated as Mac. From the first case they worked together in Arizona, he knew that she would always keep him guessing. And she did keep him guessing. Just when he thought he understood what made her tick, she would chase him into Russia and willingly impersonate a gypsy, offer herself as a bartering chip for Bedouins in the Iranian desert, mention that mysterious tattoo of hers, or disappear halfway around the world only to return three years later. The final surprise had been her showing up and admitting that she loved him.

Through all those complications, Harm was able to believe in those words above all else. For all of their layers, Harm knew that those words were true, because he could feel the love just as real in his heart. They definitely were not at their fairytale ending, but they were definitely on their way. He looked down at Mac, whose brown eyes were slowly opening, and smiled, "Morning."

"Good morning," she smiled back, breathing in the smell of his t-shirt.

"Did you sleep well?" he gently rubbed her arm with his free hand.

"Mmhmm," she settled back into his chest.

"You going back to sleep?" he watched her eyes close.

"Mmhmm," Mac responded without opening her eyes.

"Do you mind if I move my arm first?"

"I'm sorry," she immediately shifted her body until she was no longer pinning his arm, "You woken me up sooner."

"I didn't want to," he pulled her next to him.

"Why not?"

"Because you looked to much like an angel to move."

"And you sound like a country music singer," she teased.

"Hey, I thought you like cheesy romance," he teased back, "What about your Hallmark moments?"

"Those aren't cheesy! They're…"

"This?"

"Yeah," she sighed contentedly.

* * *

"Where's Mummy?" Nat asked Chloe for the third time that morning.

"Same place she was twenty minutes ago," Chloe sat at the table giving Talia her bottle, "Now be a good boy and eat your Cheerios."

"Where's that?" Nat took a bite of cereal and scrunched his face thoughtfully as he tried to remember what Chloe had told him.

"At Uncle Harm's," she smiled inwardly, while the little boy was frustrating, he's was undeniably adorable.

"Oh yeah," he slapped his forehead dramatically, "For the sleepover right?"

"Yes," Chloe grinned, "For the sleepover."

* * *

"Coming," Harm called, racing to the door of his apartment, wondering who would be knocking on a Sunday morning, "Mattie?"

"Good morning, Harm," she smiled broadly.

"Since when do you knock?" he stepped to the side to let her walk in.

"Since now," she lingered in the hallway.

"You coming in?"

"Nah," she shrugged, "I just wanted to say good morning."

"What's going on?" he was immediately of suspicious.

"Nothing," she answered quickly, "Where's Mac?"

"Shower, but…" he realized what she had just gotten him to say, 'Smooth, Mattie, very smooth."

"Thank you," she grinned triumphantly.

"How did you know she was here?"

"I have my sources," she answered cryptically.

"Let me guess," he paused for dramatic effect, "Chloe Madison."

"How did you know?"

"I have sources of my own," he chuckled, "And I've known Chloe for over five years, so I know how she operates."

"Oh," she heard the shower stop, "Well I need to get back to my place. I left something cooking."

"Okay," he smirked, "Goodbye Mattie."

"Bye Harm," she waved as he closed the door. The second she heard the door close, she pulled out her cell phone, "Hey Chloe, it's Mattie."

* * *

"Do you always cook like this?" Mac walked into the kitchen after her shower to find Harm making omelets.

"I believe you once told me that men always make you breakfast after they spend the night with you," Harm thought back to that night in Appalachia. He had almost lost her that trip and it was then that he realized how special she truly was.

"Well, thank you," she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"You're welcome," he drew her in for a longer kiss.

"Hey," she pulled away when she heard the stove sizzle, "Don't burn my omelet."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he laughed to himself at her ability to make something as mundane as an omelet seem sexy.

"Can I do anything to help?" she offered.

"Um," he looked around, "You can do toast, if you think you're up to it."

"That might be a challenge," she rolled her eyes, "But if I can balance a six-month-old on my hip while making chocolate chip pancakes, I think I can handle a toaster."

"You put chocolate chips in pancakes?"

"Of course," she pulled the bread from the bag and popped it into the toaster.

"That sounds disgusting."

"It tastes delicious," Mac shot back, "You should try it sometime, Stickboy."

"Well, you'll have to make it for me," he challenged.

"How about tomorrow night?"

"Pancakes for dinner?"

"Don't tell me you've never been to IHOP and done breakfast for dinner," she pulled the bread from the toaster and put it on a plate.

"Do you have any idea how much fat and grease are in the food from those places?"

"That's not my point," she shook her head, "I'm saying that there's nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner, especially when you're feeding a picky toddler."

"Nat's a picky eater?" Harm looked surprised; every time he'd eaten with them Nat had gobbled down his food like his Marine mother.

"He goes through phases; there was a period where he would only eat orange and brown foods."

"What's his phase now?"

"Nothing, knock on wood," she knocked on his cabinets, "I'm hoping he's growing out of it."

"I'm sure he will," Harm added the omelets to the plates she had put the toast on, "Just in time for Talia to start."

"Thanks," she glared at him as they sat down.

"You're welcome," he looked down at his toast to find it unbuttered. When he looked across at Mac's plate, he saw that hers was. He held up his dry piece of bread, "Did you forget something?"

"No."

"Mac," he shook the piece of toast dramatically, "There's no butter."

"I know."

"Yours has butter."

"I figured you'd like it that way," she carefully picked up her toast and took a bite, "It's healthier."

* * *

"Maaaaaaac!" Chloe raced to the front door when she heard it open, leaving Nat and Talia in the family room, "You have got to spill…oh…hey Harm!"

"Hi, Chloe," he greeted amused at how Mac's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Hi Sweetie," Mac smiled and glared at the same time.

"Unca Harm!" Nat raced to the front door, preventing further awkwardness.

"Hey buddy!" Harm picked him up into a hug then threw him over his shoulder.

"Hi Mummy!" he smiled looking over Harm's shoulder, "How was the sleepover?"

"It was fun," she gave him a kiss.

"Good," he smiled, "Unca Harm, let's go play!"

"Sure thing," Harm carried him off to the family room, knowing that Mac would want to chat with Chloe in private.

"Sleepover?" Mac questioned Chloe the minute Harm was out of earshot.

"Would you have rather I told him you were bong-shaka-bon-bon," Chloe asked, doing her best imitation of cheesy porn music.

"Chloe!" Mac swatted her arm.

"Well?"

"We didn't do anything."

"Seriously?" Chloe said more to herself than to Mac, "Because Mattie…"

"Mattie what?" Mac's eyed Chloe suspiciously.

"Nothing," she bit her lip.

"Chloe."

"Just consider us you're personal cupids," she grinned.

"I don't believe you two," she laughed, "Although, oddly enough I'm not surprised."

"Anyway, back to Harm. You talked, right?" her joking manner suddenly became serious, "You didn't just avoid the issue, like you always do, did you?"

"No."

"Thank God!" she collapsed dramatically onto the stairs, "So?"

"So what?"

"Did you talk about your feelings," Chloe said in a goofy whisper.

"Yes."

"You did?" she practically squealed and Mac nodded, "And it was reciprocal."

"Yes."

"I know it!" she clapped, "I…" she trailed off when she noticed another car pulling into the drive, "I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

"The admiral called and he's coming to visit."

"When?"

"Uh, now," Chloe shrugged and started to make a quick exit, "I'm going to go check on Talia. You know, just to make sure that Harm can handle the fearsome twosome."

"You do that," Mac sighed turning to the door.

* * *

"The admiral gone?" Harm asked when Mac joined them twenty minutes later. Chloe sat on the floor playing a dramatic game of Memory with Nat, while Talia happily sat in her swing.

"Yes," she sat on the floor next to Harm, who was leaning against the side of the couch.

"What'd he want?" Chloe asked.

"He wanted to know if I felt ready to return to active duty at JAG."

"Are you?" Chloe asked, while pretending to be upset over her 'inability' to find a match.

"I think so," she sighed, "I really miss it and if Harriet can manage it with her kids, I'm sure I will be able to do the same."

"Definitely," she nodded, "When do you have to decide?"

"I'm meeting the admiral Monday morning," she answered, "It's up to me if I'm wearing a uniform or not."

"Personally, I hope that you do."

"What do you think?" Mac glanced at Harm, who had been oddly quiet.

"I'll support you whatever you choose," he smiled.

"That's very sweet, but it's not an answer," she smiled back, "I want to know what you think."

"I really think you should do what you want, Mac. There's no need for you to comprise yourself for anyone," he told her sincerely, "Even if this may complicated things."

"I know," she glanced at Chloe, who was trying to look like she was intensely focusing on her game with Nat but was obviously eavesdropping, "And the admiral raised the same concern."

"He did?" Harm looked surprised.

"He's very perceptive," she shrugged, "Anyway, the position would be on the bench so creative scheduling should prevent conflicts."

"Then I say go for it," he smiled, "If you want to, of course."

"Of course," she stood up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to get my uniform out of storage."

* * *

A/N: I know that this was all fluff and such, but it was fun for me and hopefully fun for you! Please review…you know you want to!

Nix707 – I'm an overachiever, what can I say? Actually I just felt it was time because in my realm they've both grown up and are actually somewhat mature…somewhat. As for posting delays…I barely notice them thanks to my own busy schedule, so they don't bother me!

ColonelSarahMackenzie – That's what I thought…thanks!

TV Angel – Thank you very much and sometimes even I have to be nice.

Janlaw – Thanks so much for your help with the details. I wanted her to go back, but I wasn't sure how to make it work. I'm also not sure if my "resolution" with her in the judiciary works, but this is my AU and I'm going to make it happen!

Lani – Thanks for taking the homework break to review!

JamieAKAaclassyone – Well, nothing could ever go smoothly with HM…the only way it works if one of them will just shut-up and listen. And I'm going to have to remember the doctorate in procrastination…I like that!

Radiorox – Was that better:::ducks into closet to find suit of armor to protect her from knife wielding reviewers:

Prinnie – You deserve marks for creativity…it's a very, very important skill!

MiDushiNoSushi – Yeah, it was very easy…but I think my stress of school is releasing itself through fanfic. If I can make that world happy and perfect…maybe all my homework will magically complete itself…or not…but I can dream.

BrittanyLS – Thanks!

Starryeyes10 – Thank you much!

Judy52sa – Well, if you say so…thanks!


	23. Chapter TwentyOne

Disclaimer: All I own is Talia and Nat...the rest aren't mine…if they were I'd have given us shippers more!

A/N: Okay, it's been a while but I have a number of things to blame. First of all there's the stress of school, but I've whined about that enough that you guys already know that. (On a bright note, the grades are doing well!) The other issue was writer's block. I had the last scene of this written, and I had to work my way backwards to finish this and it just wasn't going. Also, this one is going to be drawing to a close soon, but until then I've just got to savor the moment. Happy Reading!

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**Chapter 21:**

Mac returned to JAG by way of the judiciary and her life began to feel like her own again. The summer flew by and before she knew it they were well into fall. Things with Harm were also going well and by mid-August he had merged his way into her daily routine. Normally, Talia would rise much earlier than her brother, so Mac would feed her breakfast long before Nat had even opened his eyes. One morning when she was washing the dishes, there was a knock on the door and she opened it to find Harm with two jogging strollers. Upon her return to active duty, Harm had teased her about being out of shape to which she responded that for two kids she was in darn good shape although she did admit that she missed her morning runs.

Since running with a double stroller would be difficult, Harm volunteered to be her running buddy. Mac had laughed when she first saw him at her door as he explained his plans, because Harm had no idea how difficult Nat could be in the early hours of the morning. Harm brushed it off and went to Nat's room while Mac changed into running clothes. When she returned downstairs, Mac found Nat sitting on Harm's lap, all smiles and munching on graham crackers with a sippy-cup of apple juice. They then set off on the run with Harm pushing Nat in one stroller and Mac pushing Talia in the other. By the end of the jog, Nat would once again be fast asleep, while Talia would be smiling serenely as she took in the morning air.

They would return to Mac's house where she would shower and Harm would reawaken Nat and get him dressed for school. Once Mac got out of the shower, Harm would get his uniform from his car and get in the shower himself while Mac would make a gourmet breakfast of cereal and fruit. Following breakfast, they would all pile into Mac's SUV and head to the Roberts household where they gained two more passengers: a sleepy A.J. and a wide wake Jimmy who immediately entered into a babbling conversation with Talia. Their first stop was the daycare for the youngest two, and by this point A.J. and Nat were both awake enough to start their own animated conversation. Once they reached the primary school, Harm walked over to kindergarten classroom and Mac took Nat over to pre-k.

Then they would drive to Falls Church and work the day away, eating lunch together when their schedules permitted. When the work day ended, they would drive back to the Robert's home to pick up the kids who Harriet had picked up when she finished work at an earlier hour. The foursome would return to Mac's for a dinner that was either home cooked or take-out depending on the stress level of the adults. At first, Harm would return to his place after dinner, but one night in early November he stayed to help Mac with Nat and Talia who had both come down with the flu. The kids were better in a couple of days, but Harm did not leave. With Mattie back in Blacksburg with her father, Harm found alone time in his apartment to be much less appealing and Mac found his presence in her house to be natural.

A week before Thanksgiving, Mac found her self happily waiting with her daughter in the kitchen for Harm to come downstairs so they could head out for their run. It was unseasonably warm for the time of year, and Mac knew she would have to savor the last of these brisk fall runs before it would be too cold to take the kids out in the morning.

"G'morning Mummy," Nat mumbled sleepily from Harm's shoulder.

"Good morning, Mr. Nat," Mac greeted brightly, taking him from Harm who gave her a kiss on the cheek. She sat him down on the edge of the counter, handed him his cup of juice, and began putting on his shoes.

"Good morning, princess," Harm gave Talia a kiss and took her from her high chair to dress her in her fleece jacket, "Are you reading for our run?"

"Yeah," she giggled happily.

"What about you, Mr. Man?" Mac asked as she pushed her son's sleepy arms into his jacket.

"I guess," he shrugged.

"You guess?" Harm teased, "Well, maybe Mommy and I will leave you at home."

"Yeah, we'll just take Talia," Mac placed Nat on the floor and began walking to the front door, "Let's go Uncle Harm."

"We'll see you later, Nat," Harm followed her to the door with Talia in his arms, "Bye."

"Bye," Nat waved, convinced they would return. He listened to them talk and realized that they would indeed leave without him, so he raced to the front door, "I want to go!"

"Really?" Mac looked up from strapping Talia into her stroller.

"Yeah," he nodded emphatically, "I changed my mind."

"Well, I guess you can come, buddy," Harm scooped him up and into the other stroller, which had clearly been prepared for Nat's change of heart, "Then we better get moving if we're going to beat your mommy again."

"We'll see about that, Flyboy," Mac grinned down at her daughter, "Won't we, Tali-babe?"

"Yeah," she clapped her hands, "Fast!"

* * *

One week before Christmas, Harm returned from renewing is quals and immediately headed for Mac's house. Since he had unofficially moved in with her, Harm found himself torn between his love for his job and his family. He could not pinpoint the exact moment when he began thinking of Mac and her children as family, but it was just natural. They had yet to make anything official, although the entire JAG family knew that the couple shared a serious commitment. Neither of them wanted to rush things, because not only did Mac need time to completely renew herself after her marriage to Mic but they also had their own complicated emotions to deal with. After all these months, they had actually made progress and the idea of commitment no longer seemed terrifying and began to feel necessary.

"Surprise," Harm crept into the house to find Mac at the table reading.

"Hi," she smiled as he bent over to kiss her, "I thought you weren't getting back until tomorrow."

"I was able to catch an early COD," he sat in the chair next to her, "Are the kids already asleep?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago."

"What are you reading?" he asked, knowing that it was the source of her current distraction.

"A letter."

"From whom?"

"Mic," she slid it in front of him to read.

"He's not going to see them for Christmas," Harm looked up at her when he finished reading.

"No, he's not. He said it's too soon."

"It is too soon."

"It's been over six months."

"And that bothers you?"

"No," she sighed, "Yes. I don't know."

"Talk to me," Harm prompted with the three words he had said so often since her return from Australia.

"It will be their first Christmas without him."

"And you think they'll miss him?"

"Honestly, no," she bit her lip, "Talia has already started to forget, and I know Nat missed him at first, but even he's starting to adjust. I'm glad they've forgotten some things, but I don't want them to forget him completely. It makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing."

"You did," he told her as he had many times before, "Getting away from that was the best thing you could do for your family."

"I know, but Mic is still their father and someday they will want to know him."

"And until then, all you can do is give them a loving family," he squeezed her hand, "And that is exactly what you're doing."

"So are you," she said softly, "Nat idolizes you and Talia thinks you hung the moon. I don't know how they would have adjusted to everything without. They love you."

"And I love them."

"I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well you won't have to find out," he stared deeply into her eyes, "Because when I'm here with you and the kids, I'm home."

"I love you," she kissed him.

"Me too," he kissed her back and then took her hand, "Let's go to bed."

"One second," she placed the letter from Mic in the back of a drawer, "Now I'm ready."

* * *

Mac stepped out of the shower and slipped into her robe. It was Friday night and the night before Christmas Eve, and Harm had insisted that they go out to celebrate on their own before the Christmas spirit of the children completely overwhelmed the adults. Harm had though everything through, even arranging for Nat and Talia to spend the night at the Roberts house. With all the arrangements taken care of, Mac had no choice but to agree, even though the decorating and gift wrapping of the season made her more than ready for some adult time.

"Mummy!" Nat shouted as his little fist pounded on the door to her bedroom.

"Coming sweetie," she opened the door to find him dressed in his winter coat with his suitcase next to him. Harm stood a foot behind him with a bundled up Talia in his arms, "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," the little boy broke out into a huge grin, "Auntie Harriet's going to let us make our own pizzas! I'm going to put lots of pepperoni and sausage on mine."

"That's my boy," Mac grinned back at him and picked him up, "You're going to be a good boy, right?"

"The best."

"And you'll tell Auntie Harriet and Uncle Bud 'thank you'?"

"Of course," he answered solemnly.

"What about you angel?" Mac looked over at Talia, "Will you be a good girl?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

"Okay, give me a kiss," she gave her daughter a kiss.

"Kiss."

"You too Mr. Man," Mac kissed Nat's head and he gave her a kiss back. She set him back on the ground and looked up at Harm, "Thanks for driving them."

"Don't worry about it," he said taking Nat's hand, "You've got thirty-five minutes and we're out of here."

"I'll be ready."

"Uncle Harm," Nat tugged insistently on his arm.

"What is it buddy?" Harm asked.

"Come here," he motioned and Harm leaned down so Nat could whisper in his ear, "You didn't kiss Mommy?"

"You think I should?" he whispered back, glancing up at Mac.

"Yeah," Nat nodded.

"Okay," Harm stood up and gave Mac a kiss, "Nat said that I had to."

"He's very smart," she gave him a second kiss back.

"Now we can go!" Nat declared.

"Okay," Mac laughed, "Be good."

* * *

"You're kidding," Mac looked across the seat at Harm in disbelief.

"I'm serious."

"You actually expect me to put that on?"

"Come on, Mac."

"No."

"If you don't, I'll tell the driver to pull over," Harm threatened. He had gone all out for this 'date' and had hired a driver for them.

"And we were having such a lovely evening," she said lightly.

"It's a blindfold, Mac."

"Fine," she sighed dramatically, closing her eyes, "Go ahead."

"Thank you," he teased and tied the blindfold over her eyes. The evening had gone just as he had planned: dinner at a classy restaurant followed by his surprise. He could tell that Mac had an idea of what the surprise would be, but Harm could also tell that she was going crazy with that fact that he refused to confirm any of her suspicions, and that was half of the fun.

"Can you take the blindfold off yet?" Mac asked once he had led her out of the car and into a building.

"Hold on," he said slipping off her coat, "Now keep your eyes closed."

"Sure," she felt him untie the fabric and remove it.

"Okay, open them."

"Wow," Mac opened her eyes to find that they were in a department store. At first it seemed like a ridiculously odd location, but then she looked around at the display cases, which were the only thing lit in the room, and realized that they held nothing but shows. That's when it hit her, she turned to look back at Harm and gasped softly when he saw him on one knee.

"You once told me that you wanted what every woman wants: a great job, a great man, and lots of comfortable shoes. Now will you give me what I want?" he pulled out a small velvet box and revealed a diamond ring, "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she whispered with tears in her eyes, "Yes."

"I love you, Sarah Catherine MacKenzie," he slipped the ring on her finger and stood up.

"And I love you Harmon David Rabb Jr."

* * *

A/N: So…how's that for an ending? Well, not the complete ending, but you know what I mean…

Judy52sa – It's like you read my mind…hehehe…I hope you like how I fast forwarded through the slow parts and got right down to the important stuff!

TV Angel 711 – Crazy college times…hehehe…I hope you liked it!

Duchovny0901 – Aw shucks! Your review made me smile. I did debate having Mic return for a Christmas visit, but then I decided that would just be awkward and prevent the proposal….although it would be interesting if he made trouble before the wedding…but that would just depend on whether I'm feeling adventurous.

JamieAKAaclassyone – I have so much fun writing the kids, especially Chloe. For Harm and Mac it takes effort to get inside their head, but for Chloe, I just take myself and subtract a few years.

Nix707 – There's nothing wrong with fighting over the baby names. Mine get to be mature because they don't have complications like that…yet! (Did I just say yet…oy…I'm not even sure if I want to go there)

JeanMary – Thanks! I feel like after all the craziness they deserve some happy normal times!

Janlaw – Woohoo! I figured out a way to that works (more or less) …thanks for watching out for the technical errors.

KittyX – Thanks a bunch!

Lani – We all hate homework…it's a fact of life! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Mxfan214 – Thanks a lot…I'm working on the consistent updating again…I've been bad and slcaking.

Jaggurl – I love fluff…it's so happy and fun to write...and I'm glad you liked it!

Radiorox – Well, Mic is staying in Australia, so that means you can keep those knives at bay, although if you had some Anthrax you could always send it via mail.

Prinnie – Thanks for the luck…I think they went okay. Hopefully this chapter gave you a break from finals studying!

MiDushiNoSushi – It's all about the butter…well not completely, but it is all about the fluffiness associated with butter. I hope this chapter made you smile too!

Starryeyes10 – Thank you!

Shippergrl25 – I'm glad you liked it!


	24. Chapter Twenty Two

Disclaimer: I only own Talia and Nat…the rest I'm just borrowing…

A/N: Sorry about the delay in getting this up, but I wanted to make sure that that I got everything in since this is the gasp last chapter. When this idea started in my mind last summer, it was really nothing more than the idea of Mattie babysitting Mac's kids, but after 33,916 it has developed into so much more. Since this sadly is the end, I wanted to thank all of you for reading and reviewing. I really enjoyed all of your feedback and I'm glad that you liked what I have written. You guys are the best!

Also, I want to take a moment to announce my temporary hiatus from all things fan fiction. I'm now hitting that point where it's crunch time for finals and that's going to be my primary focus. As a result, I won't be writing any new JAG fics and my reading and reviewing of things may also drop off, so don't be offended if you don't hear from me. Once I take this time to recharge and return in the year 2006, I hope you all will still remember me, because you all really are awesome!

* * *

**Chapter 22:**

"Merry Christmas Eve!" Chloe greeted cheerily, grabbing the phone when it rang.

"Right back at you," Mac grinned from where she sat her own kitchen table, "Good morning, sweetie."

"Good morning," she plopped onto the couch in her grandmother's living room, "I thought you were going to call tomorrow."

"Something came up."

"Is everything okay?" her voice was laced with concern. Mac operated like clockwork in more ways than one, and any deviation from plans always freaked Chloe out.

"Yes, everything's great."

"Well, then what…" she trailed off as it hit her, "Oh my God!"

"What?" it was Mac's turn to be confused.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"Chloe!"

"Sorry," she bit her lip to keep herself from squealing, "He proposed, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"And you?"

"Yes," Mac grinned, the memory of the proposal fresh in her mind.

"So that dream of mine is finally coming true?"

"Yes, and so is mine."

"Aww!" Chloe responded in typical teenage girl fashion, "I can't believe this is actually happening."

"Me neither," she looked down at the delicate diamond on her left hand.

"It's about damn time!"

"Chloe!" she scolded, "Don't say damn."

"Fine, but can we focus on what's important?"

"And that would be?" Mac asked, knowing she was driving her little sister crazy.

"Your wedding, duh!"

"Oh that."

"Yeah, that," Chloe laughed, too happy to harass Mac back, "When will it be? Spring, summer, or are you going tie the knot by midnight on New Year's Eve?

"Chloe."

"Because that would be so incredibly romantic…"

"Chloe."

"Imagine, you and Harm pledging your eternal love for each other as the ball drops…"

"Chole!"

"What?"

"Harm and I got engaged, we have not set a date yet," Mac said calmly, "We will not be throwing a wedding together in the next ten days."

"Okay, I can work with that," she continued thoughtfully, "We could do summer. The ceremony at the Academy, and then an outdoor reception."

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself."

"You're right. I have to call Mattie."

"Calm down," she chuckled, "You cannot call her right now."

"Why the hel – heck not?"

"Because Harm is currently on the phone with her."

"Valid reason."

"Slow down on the wedding planning stuff too; you and Mattie are the first people we've told."

"You haven't told Harriet yet?" Chloe sounded shocked, "She is going to flip."

"Harm and I are going over there around lunch," she explained, "The boys will take the kids, while Harriet and I cook for the party."

"She is going to flip."

"I know," Mac smiled as she contemplated her friend's reaction.

"You're smiling right now, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"You should be," Chloe smiled as well, "I'm so happy for you, Mac. Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

"Now, I have to get ready for a fabulous 'Madison Family Christmas Fiasco' so I have to say goodbye," she sighed dramatically, "Send that gorgeous fiancé of yours my love."

"I will."

"Doesn't just hearing the word fiancé make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?"

"Yes, Chloe, it does," Mac loved the way the word sounded, "Now go get ready."

"I will," she paused a beat, "Eeee! Okay, I'm done. I'll see you in three days."

"I can't wait," Mac hung up the phone as Harm walked into the kitchen, "Hey you."

"Hey you," he sat pulled over a chair so he could put his arm over her shoulder, "How did Chloe react?"

"She was over the moon," she settled comfortably in his arm, "And Mattie?"

"She was thrilled and managed to twist it into proof that she should always get her way."

"How did she manage that?"

"I was initially against her working as a babysitter during the school year."

"Good thing you didn't or I never would have been at the picnic."

"Wouldn't have mattered."

"Why not?"

"Because," Harm took her hands in his, "We would have found our way to each other anyway."

"Really?" she stared into his eyes.

"Mmhmm," his thumb played with her engagement ring, "Destiny would have made it happen."

"Destiny?" she considered leaning in closer to him.

"Yes, destiny," his lips a breath away from hers.

"I like that," she answered, giving him a kiss.

* * *

"I'll get it!" AJ Roberts raced across his house to the front door and swung it open dramatically, "Uncle Harm, Auntie Mac!"

"Hey, honey," Mac picked him up into a hug.

"Are those the presents?" he asked, spotting the Christmas wrapping paper in the bags Harm carried.

"I don't know," Harm shrugged, "Have you been a good boy?"

"The best!" he declared as Mac set him back down.

"Then there might just be down something in there for you," he set the bags down on the ground.

"Did you get me what I asked for?" he tried to look into the bags, but Mac blocked his way.

"You have to wait until tonight," she told him firmly.

"Okay," he grumbled, but his face lit up when he decided her words meant yes, "Nat! Guess what!"

"What?" the little boy bounded over.

"I'm getting a frog!"

"For real?" Nat's jaw dropped.

"For real!"

"Awesome!" he high-fived his friend and looked at his mother, "Does that mean I get a frog too?"

"I..." Mac began amazed at how the mere idea of an amphibian made both boys grin from ear to ear, "Don't I get a hug?"

"Hi Mummy," he hugged her and then Harm, "Will you get me a frog, Uncle Harm?"

"We'll see," he debated saying yes, but a warning glare from Mac changed his mind. It was too soon in the engagement for him to handle the wrath of an angry marine.

"Don't worry," A.J. assured his friend with a slap on the shoulder, "They got me a frog, so I'm sure you'll get one too."

"Good," he grinned.

"Let's go play," he dashed off, followed by Nat.

"Slow down," Harriet walked in holding Talia.

"Okay," was the dual response from the other room.

"Did I hear A.J. say frog?" her eyes narrowed in on the bags of presents.

"Hi Tali-babe," Mac ignored her friend, taking her daughter into her arms.

"Do not try to change the subject," she continued forcibly, "Because if you bought my son a frog, I will…"

"You will what?" Mac asked knowing perfectly well why Harriet had trailed off.

"Congratulations!" she gave her friend a hug hug.

"Squish!" Talia giggled from between them.

"I'm just so excited for your Mommy," Harriet ticked her chin, "Sorry."

"S'okay," Talia smiled back amicably and looked up at her mother, "Play?"

"Yes," Mac set her down, patting her lightly, "Go."

"I knew there was a reason behind the sudden need for a babysitter last night," Harriet gave Harm a hug.

"What's going on?" Bud came down the stairs with Jimmy, who immediately toddled after the voices of the other children.

"Bud, are you dense?" Harriet grabbed Mac's left wrist so he could see the ring.

"Congratulations!" he gave Harm a man hug and Mac a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," Mac smiled as Harm wrapped his arms around her.

"You don't seem surprised," Harriet accused her husband, "You knew!"

"I told him not to tell you," Harm told her.

"So what?" she glared at Bud.

"Harriet, I…" he was interrupted by a muffled thud from the other room.

"That's your problem," Harriet shrugged, "According to the agreement you came up with, you men have the kids until tonight. Good luck."

"Bye," Mac gave Harm a quick kiss be for following Harriet into the kitchen.

* * *

"Mommy!" Nat knocked on the door of the study on the first floor of the Roberts' house. After the afternoon at the park, Harm helped Nat get ready for the party in Jimmy's room while Mac did the same for Talia in the study.

"Come in," Mac looked up from tying the bow on the back of Talia's red and white party dress to see the two most important men in her life, "Now don't you two look handsome?"

"See, I told you that your sweater looked good," Harm ruffled the little boy's curly hair.

"I guess," he shrugged, still not too pleased with his red sweater.

"And you look like an angel," Harm picked up Talia and whispered in Mac's ear, "And you look sexy."

"Same goes for you," she whispered back.

"Are you getting married?" Nat interrupted the moment abruptly, "A.J. said you were getting married."

"Why don't we sit down?" Harm suggested and they moved to the couch, where Nat sat in between the adults and Talia in her mother's lap.

"What A.J. said was right," Mac began, "Uncle Harm asked me to marry him, and I said yes."

"What about Daddy?" he asked the one question she had been dreading.

"Remember when we talked about divorce?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded, "You and Daddy can't live together because stuff changed and your loved stopped, but you both love Talia and me."

"That's right," Mac smiled at his summary, "And I always will love both of you, but now I love Uncle Harm too. That's why I want to marry him."

"Okay," he paused to think," When you married Daddy, did you love him?"

"Yes, I did."

"What if love stops again?" he turned to Harm, "What if you make Mommy cry too?"

"Nat, I love your mommy with all of my heart," he looked the little boy in the eye, "When she is happy, I am happy, and I will never make her cry."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Harm offered his hand and they shook on it, "And your mommy is not the only person I love either. I love you and your sister, and I want to be a part of your lives forever."

"Like a family?" he considered what Harm said carefully.

"Yes, like a family," he said and Nat gave him a hug.

"I like our family," he smiled up at him.

"So do I," he agreed, pulling Nat onto his lap.

"Me too," Mac slid over so Harm could put his arm around her shoulders.

"Met too," Talia echoed, resting her head against her mother's chest and holding Harm's fingers in her tiny hand.

* * *

The annual Christmas party at the Roberts house went as smoothly as all others, with the exception of a few excited exclamations. As the word of their engagement traveled through the house, there was a continuous stream of gasps followed by demands to get a closer look at the ring as well as slaps on the back statements of about damn time. When it came time for dinner, the table was overflowing with adults and children in high chairs, but the group could not have been happier.

"I have always thought of Christmas as a good time, a time when men and women seem open their hearts freely, a time for family, and a time for friends," Bud began his traditional toast, "It's hard to believe this is our seventh year hosting this Christmas party. In those years, we've had our share of ups and downs. We've seen friends come and go, and then come back again. We've experienced losses, but at the same time we have never lost our love. We know that each of us loves and is loved and that gives us a great power, because it is only in love that we can overcome adversity. So this Christmas, I ask God to bless our family, our friends, and most importantly bless our love. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," the entire table responded as they clinked their glasses.

"Daddy," little A.J. whispered fiercely at Bud, "You forgot to ask God to bless someone."

"Who?"

"Mommy's babies!" he exclaimed and everyone's eyes flew to him. A.J. grinned happy to be the center of attention and decided to make an official announcement, "My mom's pregnant."

"Harriet!" Mac was the first to speak, "Are you really pregnant?"

"Twins," she answered, smiling at Bud.

"Oh my gosh! That is so wonderful," Mac grinned from ear to ear.

"Congratulations!" Harm added and the sentiment was echoed by the entire table.

"Thank you," Bud and Harriet responded.

"Anyone else have earth shattering announcements?" Harm asked with a smile, "Because we should really get those out of the way now."

"I got a question," Nat raised his hand.

"Yes, Nat?" Harm asked.

"If A.J. gets to have a baby, does that mean you and Mommy will get me one?"

"Um," Mac turned bright red while the rest of the table chuckled in amusement, "Maybe."

"I'll be really good," he pleaded.

"Nat," Mac began.

"Please!"

"Hey, buddy," Harm broke in, "You know A.J.'s older than you, so you'll have to wait until you're his age before we can get you a baby."

"Okay," Nat sighed and went back to his food.

"Harm!" Mac slapped his arm lightly, "Why did you tell him that?"

"He dropped the question," he shrugged.

"That is so not the point," she shook her head.

"You sound like Chloe," she stuck out her tongue in response and Harm did the same.

"Ahem," the admiral cleared is throat.

"Right, sorry," Harm turned a little pink and held up his glass, "To the twins."

"To the twins!"

* * *

"Hey Dad," Harm stood before The Wall that night as he did every year, "I finally did it. There were times I truly never thought this would ever be possible, but it's happening. I gave her Grandma Sarah's ring last night and she said yes. Mac and I are getting married. She's got the greatest kids too. You'd love them, Dad, and I might just be able to make a fighter pilot out of her little boy, Nat. I guess he's going to be my little boy now too. It's amazing," he lightly traced his fingers over his father's name, "I love you, Dad. Merry Christmas."

Harm walked away from The Wall, his shoes creating silent footsteps in the fallen snow, and found his car parked where he parked it every year. This year there was a difference. This year the car was still running and in the backseat were two slumbering toddlers and in the passenger seat was his beautiful Marine. When he got in the car, Harm smiled back at the children and then at Mac. They kissed gently and he whispered, "Let's go home."

* * *

**THE END **_(And they lived happily ever after…)_

* * *

A/N: Well, what did you think? This is your last chance to review on this, so I want to hear from everyone because I love you all! (But not in a creepy way…I swear…hehehe!)

TV Angel 711 – I'm glad you like the proposal! I was getting choked up when I was writing it, which was bad because I was in class. Anyway, I hope you liked the ending!

Cbw - You liked the last ending…yay! What do you think of this one?

Anacharlie – I'm happy you conquered your laziness and decided to give this one a chance. Thanks!

Judy52sa – I'm kind of sad to see it end too because it's been fun writing the entire thing, but these fluffy chapters leave me with a smile on my face. Thanks for reading!

Nix707 – You guessed correctly, this one was the final chapter. I didn't really realize that it was so close to being done until I actually posted the last one. Thanks for coming along for the ride and I'm glad you liked it!

Jaggurl – Okay, there was a slight delay in getting this up there, but I hope it was worth the wait.

JamieAKAaclassyone – On the Mic issue, I side with Mac too because he is there father and should be some part of their lives. But the way I justify it is that Mic does keep contact via phone/letters and in time gets the visitation thing down and is some part of their lives. Although Harm will definitely take on the traditional father role for Nat and Talia. Anyhoo, I'm glad you liked this fic and thanks for all of the reviews!

Prinnie – Yeah, that sentence about the shoes didn't make sense…I meant they were on display. But I'm glad that didn't stop you from enjoying the proposal and hopefully I didn't make any other random errors that distract you from this ending.

Sammy – I'm happy you liked it and thanks for reading!

Daisymh – You read all of it at once, I'm impressed and honored. I hope you liked this last chapter too!

Lani – Your reaction sounds like Chloe's reaction…hehehe! I hope you found the ending filled with joy!

MiDushiNoSushi – Thanks for reading and thinks for all the reviews, I loved all the feedback you gave me on how realistic situations were. I agree that Mic should be a better father, but I like to imagine that sometime in the next year Mic gets his life in order and has some role in their life. Besides, all that really matters to me is the happy Harm/Mac family unit!

Starryeyes – Thanks for reading!

BrittanyLS – Thanks…coming up with the proposal was a lot of fun!

Aboxforpandora – So I gave you the announcement to the JAG family, but we'll have to see about the other requests…hehehe! I know what you mean about classes, my next b-day is my 20th and I think I'm ready for a quarter life crisis from the work!

Thanks again everyone…it's been fun!


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